ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By Caitlin Johnstone “What we’ve been undergoing to a large extent is a form of psychological abuse, actually, by very narcissistic, hegemonic governments and officials for a very long time. It’s a form of gas lighting where actually our own faith in our ability to judge a situation, and to some extent even our own identity, has been eroded and damaged to the point where we’re effectively accepting their version of reality.”  ~  Vanessa Beeley   The only thing keeping westerners from seeing through the lies that they’ve been told about Syria is the unquestioned assumption that their own government could not possibly be that evil. They have no trouble believing that a foreigner from a Muslim-majority country could be gratuitously using chemical weapons on children at the most  strategically disastrous time possible and bombing his own civilians for no discernible reason other than perhaps sheer sexual sadism, but the possibility that their government is makin...

In early May, ISIS forced traders to use its currency in the areas controlled by the terrorist group, especially in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. ISIS has also published an infographic explaining the new currency. Click to see the full-size image ISIS has presented the currency with three values: -Copper fils: 6 fils weighing 3 grams of copper; -Silver dirham: 1 dirham weighing 3 grams silver; – Golden dinar: 1 gold dinar weighing 4.25 grams gold 21 caliber. Each silver dirham equals 100 fils of copper, and each gold dinar equals 85 silver dirhams. According to ISIS, the value of currencies determined by its “Monetary Authority”. ISIS is trying to promote its currency by claiming that it has “real value unlike paper currencies.” ISIS also claimed that its currency maintains its value during wars and crises becauseit is made of valuable metals. It is believed that ISIS came to impose its currency after the great collapse that hit its financing. This was a result of the destru...

On April 11th, the White House released a “declassified four-page report” on the alleged chemical weapons attack in the village of Khan Shaykhun in the Syrian province of Idlib. The United States accuses the Syrian and Russian governments of providing disinformation and “false narratives” regarding the attack, adding that Washington is sure that the Assad government is responsible for the attack. However, the report provides only a “summary” of the United States’ version of the situation. According to this version, the US possesses intelligence and evidence of the attack but cannot reveal it because of security classifications. It is stated in the report that the Syrian government maintains the capability to conduct a chemical weapons attack to prevent “the loss of territory deemed critical to its survival”. Then, the “declassified” report just retells the story provided by hard-core “pro-opposition” media outlets and activists -in other words, supporters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sha...

Philippines troops, backed by warplanes and attack helicopters, have continued struggling to retake the city of Marawi seized by ISIS terrorists earlier this month. According to a statement from the Armed Forces, some 61 terrorists have been killed in clashes with the army so far. The military added that 15 servicemen (army and police) have been killed and 39 others have been wounded. Furthermore, according to media reports, over 120 civilians have been killed as result of the ongoing clashes. Photos show an alleged aftermath of the airstrikes: