ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

US Seeks to Cut North Korea off International Banking The United States moves to dissuade foreign banks from working with North Korea by threatening action against international financial transaction with Pyongyang. The US administration issued a warning Wednesday, with the Treasury Department designating North Korea as a “primary money laundering concern.” Treasury officials said they are moving to ban non-US banks and entities from processing dollar transactions on behalf of North Korea in a move to block Pyongyang’s international trade, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Today’s action is a further step toward severing banking relationships with North Korea, and we expect all governments and financial authorities to do likewise,” said Treasury’s top sanctions official, Adam Szubin. This May 10, 2016 picture released from North Korea shows a parade in the capital, Pyongyang. (AFP) The latest US move comes as North Korea has begun a 200-day battle to boost the country’s sanctions-...

Document: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Acknowledges Defeat in Syria, Yemen Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in the fringe meetings with Muhammad bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia involvement in regional crises caused by Saudi greed to the stability and resistance of the region, and because of this did a military attack against the Houthis, but due to low labor of Arabic coalition countries this operation failed, Al-Alam News Network reports. The document before erasing the news and closing the site On Syria crisis, he added that "we trusted too much to America and Turkey in Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s overthrow, but unfortunately their promises were not fulfilled." At the end, Muhammad bin Nayef said for the rescue of this crisis, "we should rethink in our policies and even if necessary, we must give painful privileges."

Russia’s Su-34 Bombers Raze ISIS Oil Facilities Close to Turkish Border The Russian Su-34 bombers have destroyed ISIS oil-refining plant near the Syrian city of Ras al-Ayn on the border with Turkey, Russia’s defense ministry announced. The video released by the defense ministry on Thursday shows Russian jets hitting oil reservoirs located on territory under ISIS control. “Strikes took technical equipment out of operation and inflamed oil products, causing a large fire at the plant,” reads the bulletin of the Russian Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides in Syria from June 1. Russia has repeatedly blamed Turkey for enabling ISIS and other militant groups to conduct illegal oil trade. Addressing the students of Belarusian State University earlier in May, Russia’s FM, Sergey Lavrov, argued that “Turkey did nothing to stop”the smuggling of oil, artifacts, and other goods through the porous Turkish-Syrian border. Moreover, there is “reason to believe that it [Turkey] eve...

LATEST FRONTLINE FOOTAGE: Iraqi Forces Advance in NW of Fallujah Iraqi forces move into the northwestern outskirts of Falluja in an attempt to recapture the city from Islamic State militants and targeted ISIS group positions in the Fallujah, saying they were continuing to push into the city, having secured its outskirts. A video released by the Popular Mobilization Forces, a pro-Iraqi government militia also known as Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi, shows militia and Iraqi government troops firing at ISIS positions as smoke rises in the sky. Latest Iraqi Airstrikes Hit fighting positions, a weapons cache and a tunnel system. Fallujah is one of the last ISIS strongholds in Iraq. The militants also hold Mosul, the second largest city. The Iraqi forces had been able to destroy trenches and earthworks created by Islamic State militants and had advanced close to the outskirts of Fallujah. More than 50,000 people are believed to be still inside Fallujah, and the U.N. estimated that...

Makia Freeman is the editor of alternative news / independent media site The Freedom Articles and senior researcher at Tools For Freedom.com (FaceBook here), writing on many aspects of truth and freedom, from exposing aspects of the worldwide conspiracy to suggesting solutions for how humanity can create a new system of peace and abundance. ISIS is a US-Israeli creation, a fact as clear as the sky is blue. It’s a truth as black and white as the colors on their flag. For many alternative news readers, this may be patently obvious, but this article is written for the large majority of people in the world who still have no idea who is really behind the rise of ISIS. No matter which name they go by – ISIS, ISIL, IS or Daesh – the group has been deliberately engineered by the US and Israel to achieve certain geopolitical goals. They are a religious, fundamentalist, Sunni terrorist organization created to terrorize and overthrow certain secular or Shiite Arab nations such as Syria and Ir...

By Pepe Escobar  Not a day goes by without US Think Tankland doing what it does best; pushing all sorts of scenarios for cold – and hot – war with Russia, plus myriad confrontations with China and Iran. That fits into the Pentagon’s Top Five existential threats to the US, where Russia and China sit at the very top and Iran is in fourth place – all ahead of «terrorism» of the phony Daesh «Caliphate» variety. Here I have come up with some concise realpolitik facts to counterpunch the hysteria – stressing how the Russian hypersonic missile advantage renders useless the whole construct of NATO’s paranoid rhetoric and bluster. The US Aegis defense system has been transferred from ships to land. The Patriot missile defense system is worthless. Aegis is about 30% better than the THAAD system; it may be more effective but their range is also limited. Aegis is not a threat at all to Russia – for now. Yet as the system is upgraded – and that may take years – it could cause Russia...

Watch Inside ISIS Terror Tunnels as Iraqi Army Stunned to Find Secret Underground Military Base The extensive network was unveiled after the terrorists fled the outskirts of Fallujah. The militants use them to reach the front line to fight and then slink away to safety. A warren of terror tunnels excavated by ISIS terror thugs has been discovered by Iraqi forces. The extensive network was unveiled after the terrorists fled the outskirts of Fallujah. One of the longest tunnels surrounded a brick factory, Hashid Shaabi fighters said. ISIS used the tunnels to approach, appear and escape from the front-line to reduce their casualties. The tunnels run under streets and between houses, where the terror thugs take cover to fight their advancing enemy. Iraqi troops have pushed towards Fallujah from the south, aiming to completely surround the ISIS-held city, Iraq's elite counter-terrorism forces said. "Our troops are now in the process of surrounding the city from all (sides)," ...

For the first time since it conquered large parts of Iraq, ISIS appears to be in real trouble. The terror organization is experiencing increasing problems defending the strategically important city of Falluja against a massive assault by the Iraqi army and Shia militias — or so-called “Popular Mobilization Units.” The third battle for Fallujah began earlier this week when Iraqi troops, supported by airstrikes by the US-led coalition against ISIS, pounded ISIS positions in the city and succeeded to retake some neighborhoods at the outskirts of the city. Retaining Fallujah is critically important for ISIS there are signs that its forces are beginning to crumble under the pressure of the coordinated attacks that also threaten the group in the area of its capital Raqqa in Syria. ISIS uses suicide car bombers to derail the offensive by the combined Iraqi-Iranian forces. The latest news, however, indicates that the odd coalition of Iranian-led ground forces and US warplanes is making progres...