Latest news with #Hizbullah
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
US is again betting that installing ‘our sonuvabitch' will neutralise an adversary. It never does
In the surreal world of Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu , war starts and ends on social media, with the flick of a post on Truth Social. Midnight Hammer, the name chosen by Washington for its June 22nd bombing raids on Iran , might have been better suited to a porn film. Everything in Sheriff Trump's wild west is oversized – the world's most expensive warplanes delivered the world's heaviest ordnance on the world's longest bombing raid constituting 'ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY'. Except it wasn't. In his inaugural address last January, Trump gave the impression he had learned from past errors, promising to 'measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end – and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into'. If Trump were capable of contemplation, he might ask himself why, roughly every 20 years, Israel and the US attempt to remake the Middle East, with catastrophic consequences. A brief reminder of past misadventures: READ MORE June 1982 Israel invades Lebanon with the goal of stopping attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers and tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians are killed. Israeli occupation forces remain in much of the country for 18 years, until they are driven out in humiliation by Hizbullah, an Iranian-backed Shia Muslim militia. March 2003 The US invades Iraq with the goal of destroying Saddam Hussein's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and more than 4,000 US troops are killed during the invasion, ensuing civil war and eight-year occupation, which costs more than $3 trillion. Iran becomes the main power in Iraq. June 13th, 2025 Binyamin Netanyahu begins bombing Iran, on the dubious pretext that Iran is about to make a nuclear weapon. Israel has never owned up to owning hundreds of nuclear warheads that it has never submitted for inspection. Trump, who doesn't follow through on his own ultimatums to Vladimir Putin , waits only three days of a two-week grace period before dropping 14 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, or MOPs, on Iranian nuclear sites. Trump calls Iran 'the world's No 1 state sponsor of terror'. But these days, it is Trump's buddies, Putin and Netanyahu, who practise state terror against Ukraine and Gaza. If there really were no other way to spare the world from a hypothetical Iranian bomb, one might have concluded – as German chancellor Friedrich Merz did in an obscene remark – that Israel was 'doing our dirty work for us', or 'Drecksarbeit', as he put it. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte also praised the illegal attacks . Under Trump, the West has lost its moral compass. Painstaking negotiations, not brute force, are the only way to defuse a nuclear threat. Diplomacy achieved the 2015 accord known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action treaty (JCPOA) , which Iran abided by until Trump discarded the agreement at Netanyahu's urging. It was Netanyahu who commissioned the 1996 Clean Break report advocating the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, upon which US neocons based the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This month's war on Iran was reportedly inspired by Restoring Deterrence: Destabilising the Iranian Regime, a study by the British academic researcher Barak Seener, published by a rightwing think tank in London. The belief that we can neutralise an adversary by installing 'our sonuvabitch' is a dangerous, recurring delusion. In 1982 Israel and the US attempted to impose the soon-to-be slain Maronite militia leader Bachir Gemayel to lead Lebanon. In 2003 the US groomed Ahmad Chalabi , a corrupt banker who propagated the myth of Saddam's WMDs, for Baghdad. Now Israel dreams of restoring the Pahlavi dynasty, 46 years after the late Shah and his family were driven out by Islamic revolution. The Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi, now aged 64, visited Jerusalem with his mother Farah Diba at the invitation of the Israeli Likud cabinet minister Gila Gamliel in 2023. 'The Iranian people love Israel, and they want the Ayatollah regime to be replaced,' Gamaliel told the Jerusalem Post in March. Trump harbours the same fantasy: 'It's not politically correct to use the term 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime Change??? MIGA!!!' he posted on Truth Social. On June 23rd Reza Pahlavi predicted at a press conference in Paris that the Tehran regime would fall this year. Israel's heritage minister, Amihai Eliyahu of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, said , 'The fact that we are co-operating with the opposition in Iran today is a blessing.' After an estimated 800 Iranians and 30 Israelis were killed, Trump blithely congratulated his Israeli allies and the country he had just bombed for their 'Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence'. Hours later he lashed out at both for apparent ceasefire violations, saying they 'don't know what the f*** they are doing.' Trump flew to The Hague, where he was feted by royalty and fawned over by Nato's secretary general. Thirty-one of Nato's 32 member states – only Spain's socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, objected – caved in to Trump's long-time demand that they devote 5 per cent of GDP to defence. And those extra hundreds of billions had better be spent on US hardware. There was not a squeak of criticism for Russia's assault on Ukraine, because Trump hates it when you insult his buddies. He denounced corruption charges against Netanyahu as 'a witch hunt'. Trump directed his venom at 'FAKE NEWS CNN, TOGETHER WITH THE FAILING NEW YORK TIMES' for reporting preliminary findings by the US Defence Intelligence Agency that 12 days of sound and fury had delayed Iran's nuclear programme by at best a few months. CIA director John Ratcliffe flew to Trump's rescue, insisting that Operation Midnight Hammer set back Iran's nuclear programme by years. We segued from the verge of a third world war into farce, with Trump, Netanyahu and Iran's supreme leader all claiming victory. Trump and Netanyahu must learn there is no such thing as a quick fix in the Middle East. We've come full circle to the original dilemma: negotiations or a new forever war.
Memri
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Memri
Lebanese Tech Expert Majed Jaber Warns On Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV: Israel Signed 'Massive Contracts' With Google And OpenAI, Receives All The Data We Enter Online, Which Helps It Identify Hizbullah Me
On June 7, 2025, Lebanese tech expert Majed Jaber appeared on Al-Manar TV (Hizbullah–Lebanon), where he warned viewers that Israel can access people's information through AI apps and phone use and identify them as members of Hizbullah. He warned that when Lebanese users sign into Google, all their data is sent to "the Israeli enemy." Jaber claimed that everything users enter into ChatGPT is sent to Israel, which he said has signed "massive contracts" with OpenAI. He stated that Israel operates a cloud infrastructure called "Nimbus," which he alleged stores data from social media and personal devices. To view the clip, clip below: Majed Jaber: "We all use ChatGPT, but everything you put into ChatGPT goes to Israel. Israel has signed massive contracts with OpenAI. According to these contracts, all the information about Lebanese and other people goes to... They have a cloud Nimbus. They store there all the data from social media and from your devices. They have even signed contracts with Google. [...] "The AI [system] receives all the data and stores it. It connects everything through algorithms. The deep analysis that takes place in the heart of the AI is very advanced. If it monitors a person, how does it know if that person is part of the Resistance or not? It inspects the nature of that person's communications and creates a profile of him. Through his phone number, it detects all the people he has called. His picture, the nature of his posts, and even his movements – it stores everything. Then the algorithms decide whether he belongs to the Resistance or not, and he supports it or not. If he is not a Resistance member, it creates a profile of him. Therefore, we need to be careful not to say everything on our phones. We must not say everything to AI apps."
Irish Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Middle East in maps: Key territories in the current conflict
Israel Area: 22,000 sq km. Population: 9.5m. Prime minister: Binyamin Netanyahu. The State of Israel, founded as a homeland for Jewish people in 1948, is the strongest military power in the Middle East. It has occupied the Palestinian West Bank since 1967 and the Gaza Strip for much of that time. It has fought several wars. Though a 'cold peace' exists with Jordan and Egypt, the Arab-Israeli conflict has profoundly shaped politics in the Middle East. Israel's current war on the Gaza Strip followed an attack on October 7th, 2023 by the Palestinian group Hamas that killed 1,195 Israeli citizens and captured more than 250. Since then, the Gaza health ministry says Israel has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has gone to war with Hizbullah in Lebanon, invaded Syria and bombed Iran. Though supported by the United States, Israel's actions in Gaza have been widely condemned, and the Irish Government has joined an International Court of Justice case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. READ MORE Gaza and West Bank Gaza – Area: 365 sq km. Population: 2.1m. West Bank – Area: 5,860 sq km. Population: 3.2m. A 1947 UN resolution proposed dividing the then British-administered land of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Arabs did not accept the plan, and war ensued as soon as the state of Israel was declared. After decades of wars and paramilitary activity, Gaza and the West Bank are the remnants of those designated Arab territories. Israel occupied both areas in 1967, and 670,000 Israelis now live in West Bank settlements that are deemed illegal under international law. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and Hamas – a Sunni Muslim political and paramilitary group – won an election the following year and took power. When Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, Israel declared war. That war has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, devastated Gaza and destabilised the Middle East. There has been a simultaneous crackdown in the West Bank, where Israel has extended its settlements and killed more than 900 Palestinians, according to the United Nations. Iran Area: 1.65m sq km. Population: 92m. Supreme leader: Ali Khamenei. Officially an Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution deposed its monarchy, Shia-Muslim-dominated Iran has in recent decades been the main agent of resistance to Israel's regional power. It supported Hamas in Gaza, Hizbullah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Syria and Iraq. This so-called 'Axis of Resistance' has been hugely weakened by the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Israel's suppression of Hizbullah, and Israeli and US bombings of Iran's nuclear sites. Iran is not thought to have developed nuclear weapons yet. Iran is close to Russia and China and has diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia and the European Union, though not the US. Its regime has faced international condemnation for its discrimination against woman and minorities, torture and arbitrary use of the death penalty. Qatar Area: 11,500 sq km. Population: 2.6m. Emir: Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The authoritarian regime has complicated relations with other countries in the region but is on speaking terms with most of them. Qatar has hosted (unsuccessful) peace talks between Israel and Hamas. Its state-owned media group Al Jazeera is influential across and beyond the Arab world. Qatar is home to the Middle East's largest US airbase, which Iran attacked this week in response to US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. Lebanon Area: 10,500 sq km. Population: 5.8m. President: Joseph Aoun. One of the Middle East's democracies, Lebanon is economically poor and militarily weak, and has a higher number of refugees per capita than any country in the world. The Shia-Muslim Hizbullah group, dedicated to the destruction of Israel, controls southern Lebanon through a quasi-army that has been funded and supported by Iran. After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, Hizbullah launched its own rocket assault on Israel. In response, Israel invaded Lebanon and bombed its capital, Beirut. In late 2024, Israel severely disabled Hizbullah as a fighting force, wiping out the group's leadership through targeted bombing and an audacious attack on thousands of individuals, 32 of whom died, using exploding pagers. It has dismantled much of Hizbullah's military infrastructure, and an uneasy ceasefire remains in place. Saudi Arabia Area: 2.1m sq km. Population: 33.3m. Crown prince: Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The largest country in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is also among the richest, wielding great power as the world's second biggest oil producer. A Sunni Muslim-majority country, Saudi Arabia is close to the US and has strained but peaceful relations with Shia-dominated Iran. The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, thwarted US-led talks that would have seen Saudi Arabia officially recognise Israel. Saudi Arabia has one of the world's worst human rights records. Syria Area: 185,000 sq km. Population: 24m. President: Ahmed al-Sharaa. The Assad family – backed by Iran and Russia – ruled Syria for half a century and fought a bloody civil war from 2011 to 2024. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, ceding the country to Islamist rebels. His fall has weakened not only Syria's own military heft, but also Iran's power in the Middle East (Syria is a Shia-majority country). Israel took immediate advantage by occupying a buffer zone around the Golan Heights. The regime change has disabled Syria as a regional power. Countries including the US, EU, Qatar and Iraq are lifting sanctions and engaging warily with the new regime. Yemen Area: 455,000 sq km. Population: 40m. Presidential leadership council chairman: Rashad al-Alimi. Ruined by civil war, poverty and a humanitarian crisis, Yemen is the opposite of a superpower. Yet it is influential due to its location and as the base of the Houthis – a Shia rebel group supported by Iran. The Houthis, who oppose both the Yemeni government and Israel's war on Gaza, control western Yemen near the mouth of the Red Sea. From there they have attacked ships bound for Israel, reducing use of the Suez Canal and dealing a blow to world trade. The Houthis in turn have been subject to missile attacks by the US. The two announced a ceasefire in May, but after the US bombed Iran's nuclear sites on June 22nd, the Houthis declared the ceasefire over.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘There's people being bombed from the f**king sky': Kneecap's Mo Chara would ‘get over' US visa being revoked
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, better known as Mo Chara in Kneecap , has said he'll 'get over it' if his visa to travel to the US is revoked. The Northern Irish rap group is reapplying for visas, he said, as he faces a terrorism offence charge in the UK. Ó hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hizbullah, after someone from the crowd handed it to him at a gig last November. Last week, the case was adjourned by a court in London and he was freed on unconditional bail until August . In an interview with the Guardian on Friday, Ó hAnnaidh said: 'Maybe visas get revoked, you're not allowed in America again, it's not ideal – but Jesus Christ, there's people being bombed from the f**king skies, and people being starved to death. READ MORE 'We're in the process [of applying for new visas], hopefully it works. But if it doesn't, I can go about my day without having to worry about my next meal or my family being bombed. Visa revoked, I can get over it.' When asked if he regrets what happened at the gig in question, Ó hAnnaidh said: 'It's a joke . I'm a character . Shit is thrown on stage all the time. If I'm supposed to know every f**king thing that's thrown on stage, I'd be in Mensa, Jesus Christ.' He added: 'I don't know every proscribed organisation – I've got enough shit to worry about up there. I'm thinking about my next lyric, my next joke, the next drop of a beat.' The band believes the charges are part of a concerted effort to distract from their vocal support of Palestine. 'We're a distraction, to take away [attention] from what's happening in Palestine,' Naoise Ó Cairealláin, aka Móglaí Bap, said in the same interview. 'It's all being livestreamed – you can never say you didn't know what's happening in Palestine, and that's why they want to bog us down and go through old videos. Over 100 people were killed in the last four days – that's the real story.' He alleges that the US and the UK 'are complicit in this genocide' on the grounds that each country has sent military supplies to Israel. Ó hAnnaidh was charged with the terrorism offence shortly after Kneecap performed two sets at Coachella, the popular California music festival. As is commonplace at the group's shows, they displayed a message stating: 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,' and the words 'Fuck Israel. Free Palestine'. The band are due to perform at Glastonbury on Saturday, a set dubbed 'inappropriate' by UK prime minister Keir Starmer due to the terrorism charges and separate remarks about MPs. Footage from a November 2023 gig appears to show one of the band's members saying: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' The band later expressed their 'heartfelt apologies' to the families of David Amess, a Conservative MP who was murdered in 2021, and Jo Cox, a Labour MP who was murdered in 2016. When asked about the 'Kill your local MP' footage, Ó hAnnaidh again stressed that he's playing a character on stage. 'It's satirical, it's a f**king joke . And that's not the point. The point is, that [video] wasn't an issue until we said 'Free Palestine' at Coachella. That stuff happened 18 months ago, and nobody batted an eyelid. 'Everybody agreed it was a f**king joke, even people that may have been in the room that didn't agree – it's a laugh, we're all having a bit of craic. The point is, and the context is, it all [resurfaced] because of Coachella.' After those gigs, Ó hAnnaidh said Kneecap's opponents 'went and combed through eight years of a career ... they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel'. 'If you believe that what a satirical band who play characters on stage do is more outrageous than the murdering of innocent Palestinians, then you need to give your head a f**king wobble.'
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on international politics: law of the jungle taking hold
It remains unclear how much damage the United States military strikes last Saturday caused to Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. But the action, which had no apparent justification under international law, carries profound implications beyond the Middle East for the global order itself. In the hours after the operation, Donald Trump secured a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after 12 days of missile attacks on one another's cities. His administration expects to return to negotiations with Tehran within days, with the Islamic republic under greater pressure than before to abandon its nuclear programme. Iran's weakness reflects Israel's success in neutralising the threat from Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hizbullah and destroying the Syrian armed forces after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. And although regime change in Tehran remains unlikely, a reconfiguration of the leadership and a more pragmatic policy outlook is possible. This could see Iran joining its neighbours in the Gulf, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in prioritising economic development over ideology. The greatest obstacle to Trump's vision of a stable Middle East, ripe for investment, is Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territories and its bombardment and blockade of Gaza. READ MORE The European Union leaders' failure to sanction Israel for its human rights violations highlights Europe's ineffectiveness and its loss of influence diplomatically. The US attacks on Iran represent a humiliation of Washington's European allies, who have worked for more than 20 years towards a diplomatic solution to this issue. Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz abandoned European lip service to the rules-based order even before the US intervention, saying that Israel was doing the 'dirty work' for 'all of us' with its strikes on Iran. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte praised Trump's 'decisive action' on Iran before he thanked the US president for bullying Europe into spending more on defence. The impetus for increased defence spending is the threat from Russia but Europe has not secured a seat at the table negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. This could see Washington and Moscow work out a settlement that will shape the continent's future security architecture without the participation of European leaders. Trump's action in Iran and Europe's acquiescence further weaken the authority of the international system with the United Nations at its centre. The EU this week formally renewed its commitment to multilateralism based on international law, including the UN Charter. Ireland should keep up the pressure on its EU partners to take that commitment more seriously and to act upon it. The alternative to international law is a law of the jungle that benefits only a few great powers and under which the EU is unlikely to flourish.
