ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

The Royal Saudi Air Force participated in US-led bombing strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) insurgents in Syria, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and birthplace of Islam, has funneled cash and arms to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but has also opposed Islamist militants within the anti-Assad insurgency. “An official source revealed that the Royal Saudi Air Force took part in military operations in Syria against the Islamic State group and to support the moderate Syrian opposition, within an international coalition, to combat terrorism..., and to support the fraternal Syrian people in returning security, unity and development to this devastated country,” SPA said. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal Al Saud told SPA that the war against terrorist organizations would take years and require hard work and commitment from all parties. “Today we face a very dangerous situation where terrorist cells ha

Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group engages in everything from trolling to honey traps by Kurt Nimmo Glenn Greenwald has posted a story showing how the NSA and government agents work to “manipulate, deceive, and destroy” the reputations of journalists. “Over the last several weeks, I worked with NBC News to publish a series of articles about ‘dirty trick’ tactics used by GCHQ’s previously secret unit, JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group),” Greenwald wrote on Wednesday. GCHQ stands for Government Communications Headquarters, a British intelligence and security agency that works closely with the National Security Agency in the United States. JTRIG, exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, specializes in dirty tricks to “destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt” enemies by “discrediting” them, planting misinformation and shutting down their communications,” according to NBC News . In addition to cyber and denial of service attacks, JTRIG engages in propaganda efforts, c

Subway system in New York, December 19, 2012. (Reuters/Andrew Burton) Islamic State militants plan to launch terrorist attacks in US and Paris subways, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, citing "credible" sources. US officials dismissed the Iraqi claim, stating they have no evidence of terror plots.  Abadi made the remarks at a meeting with reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday. "Today, while I am here, I am receiving accurate reports from Baghdad where there was the arrest of a few elements and there are networks planning from inside Iraq to have attacks," he said. "They plan to have attacks in the metros of Paris and the US," he added. "From the details I have received, yes, it looks credible." Abadi added that it is not clear whether the attack was imminent, adding that the intelligence was gleaned from arrests of IS militants in Iraq. An Iraqi official at the UN also told the BBC that severa

RT The rise of violent extremism around the world is the fault of “certain states” and “intelligence agencies” that have helped to create it and are failing to withstand it, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in an address to the UN General Assembly. Speaking at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Rouhani stressed that extremism is not a regional but a global issue, and called on states worldwide to unite against the extremists. “Certain states have helped to create it, and are now failing to withstand it. Currently our peoples are paying the price," he said. "Certain intelligence agencies have put blades in the hand of the madmen, who now spare no one.” Rouhani also said the current anti-Western sentiment in certain parts of the world was "the offspring ofyesterday's colonialism. Today's anti-Westernism is a reaction to yesterday's racism.” The Iranian president urged “all those who have played a role in founding and supporting these

by James Corbett “ The Lone Gladio ,” the new novel by FBI whistleblower and BoilingFrogsPost.com founder Sibel Edmonds, is not just another spy novel. Yes, it is about spies…of a sort. And clandestine missions. And double-crosses and unsure loyalties. But that’s where the similarity ends. “The Lone Gladio” derives its name from Operation Gladio. As even the most mainstream source (read: Wikipedia ) will tell you, Operation Gladio was a NATO-led “stay-behind” operation to build up paramilitary forces that could resist Soviet occupation in the event of a Soviet invasion of Europe. It operated in many countries but is most closely associated with Italy where the program was first exposed in spectacular fashion by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti in October, 1990. The scale of the scandal involved with the revelation of this program is hard to overstate; Gladio stay-behind operatives were intimately involved with some of the worst atrocities of Italy’s so-called “Years of Lead”

James Corbett As many have heard by now, the leaders of the so-called BRICS nations – Brazil, India, China, Russia and South Africa – used the occasion of the 6th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil to announce the creation of the long-awaited BRICS Development Bank. Formally the “ New Development Bank ,” it will be based in Shanghai and capitalized with an initial $10 billion in cash ($2 billion from each of the five founding members) and $40 billion in guarantees, to be built up to a total of $100 billion. Immediately, the press began touting the new bank as a potential rival to the current IMF / World Bank system of infrastructure development and poverty reduction in the third world. “ BRICS Development Bank Could Challenge World Bank and IMF ” touts US News & World Report. “ BRICS Ink $50 Billion Lender in World Bank, IMF Challenge ” asserts Bloomberg. The World Bank, for its part, is downplaying the rivalry, with World Bank President Jim Young Kim openly welcoming the bank at a

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (Reuters/Tiksa Negeri) RT Following the US President’s speech at the UN, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov was puzzled with Barack Obama’s ranking of international threats: deadly Ebola virus top, followed by so-called Russian aggression and ISIS in Syria and Iraq only third? Gathered at the UN headquarters in New York, the world leaders attending the 69th General Assembly heard Barack Obama highlighting the three most significant global threats today. “As we gather here, an outbreak of Ebola overwhelms public health systems in West Africa, and threatens to move rapidly across borders. Russian aggression in Europe recalls the days when large nations trampled small ones in pursuit of territorial ambition. The brutality of terrorists in Syria and Iraq forces us to look into the heart of darkness,” the US leader said at the beginning of his statement. Reacting to the speech, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with astonishment. “We earned t

Accused government whistleblower Edward Snowden (Reuters/Vincent Kessler) US whistleblower Edward Snowden was among five winners of the Swedish human rights award, announced in Stockholm on Wednesday. The decision to the honor former National Security Agency contractor might have cost the 2014 Right Livelihood Awards’ jury the ability to announce the winners from Swedish Foreign Office pressroom, a usual place for such statements since 1995, Foundation director Ole von Uexkull told AP. Snowden, who has lived in Russia for over a year, shares his award with Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of the Guardian newspaper, which was first to beak the NSA leaks. #EdwardSnowden Congratulations in receiving the prestigious @rlafoundation award #RLA2014 @wikileaks @RobertMMahoney pic.twitter.com/RZu7thRJgB — William Gomes (@Wnicholasgomes) September 24, 2014 "The 2014 Right Livelihood Honorary Award goes to Edward Snowden for his courage and skill in revealing the unprece