ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Reuters The European Commission will sanction Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland for refusing to participate in a scheme to share out refugees across the bloc. The bloc introduced a plan to “relocate” about 160,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece to other countries in the EU. But so far zero refugees have moved to Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland because of the opposition of these countries to the move. The European Commission responded with launching infringement proceedings (that could ultimately lead to fines) against Hungary, Czech Republic. The decision to relocate refugees across the EU was pushed during a contentious meeting of governments in Brussels in 2015. However, so far, only about 20,000 refugees have been relocated.

Written by  Patrick J. Buchanan President Trump may be chief of state, head of government and commander in chief, but his administration is shot through with disloyalists plotting to bring him down. We are approaching something of a civil war where the capital city seeks the overthrow of the sovereign and its own restoration. Thus far, it is a nonviolent struggle, though street clashes between pro- and anti-Trump forces are increasingly marked by fistfights and brawls. Police are having difficulty keeping people apart. A few have been arrested carrying concealed weapons. That the objective of this city is to bring Trump down via a deep state-media coup is no secret. Few deny it. Last week, fired Director of the FBI James Comey, a successor to J. Edgar Hoover, admitted under oath that he used a cutout to leak to The New York Times an Oval Office conversation with the president. Goal: have the Times story trigger the appointment of a special prosecutor to bring down th

By J.Hawk US President Donald J. Trump is expected to visit Poland on July 6, shortly before heading for the G-20 summit in Hamburg. This visit deserves to be closely monitored for it will reveal Trump Administration’s foreign policy agenda to a greater degree than his previous actions. Sticks Trump’s options in Poland boil down to two alternatives: compel Poland to become a good EU citizen or, conversely, attempt to drive a wedge between it and Germany. The US does have several levers of influence to achieve the former objective, starting with public criticism of the Law and Justice (L&J) government (criticism that would have tremendous effect given Poles’ deference to the opinions of US presidents), or presenting Poland with a “bill” for US military presence. If Trump takes this approach, it would signal an improvement in the US-EU (or, more specifically, US-Germany) relations, since the EU, at the apparent behest of Merkel and Macron is moving to sanction Poland and oth

Syrian government forces  have taken control of the Azaz triangle and the T3 pumping station and airport  after a series of intense clashes with ISIS terrorists. Click to see the full-size map

FILE IMAGE: M142 high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) launcher The US military has deployed a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) near At Tanf in southeastern Syria, according to the mainstream media. “The US military has moved its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) from Jordan into southern Syria for the first time, positioning it near the US-Coalition training base at At Tanf, three US defense officials confirmed to CNN Tuesday. HIMARS, a truck-mounted system which can fire missiles as far as 300 kilometers, represents a major boost to US combat power near At Tanf, a location that has come under the spotlight following a series of recent coalition strikes against pro-regime forces operating in the area,” CNN  reported . The system was moved from Jordan. The HIMARS deployment dramatically strengthens the US military presence in the area and poses a direct threat to Syrian government forces deployed northeast of At Tanf. Earlier this mon

By Chris Tomson Al-Masdar News has obtained jaw-dropping footage from northern Syria suggesting the US-led coalition has allowed hundreds of ISIS vehicles to leave Raqqa city for areas controlled by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). Despite Kurdish and American drones hovering above Raqqa on all flanks, the Islamic State convoy remained completely untouched by coalition airstrikes, thus suggesting an under-the-table deal may have been struck between the warring parties: According to an Al-Masdar News researcher, the footage could be traced back to earlier this month while the convoy in the video later was  bombed by the Russian Air Force . Some conspiracy theorists also speculate the US-led coalition allowed thousands of ISIS militants to escape Mosul back in November, 2016 only to capture the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra the following month. This article was first published by  Al-Masdar News  -

Why Are We Attacking the Syrians Who Are Fighting ISIS? By Ron Paul  Just when you thought our Syria policy could not get any worse, last week it did. The US military twice attacked Syrian government forces from a military base it illegally occupies inside Syria. According to the Pentagon, the attacks on Syrian government-backed forces were “defensive” because the Syrian fighters were approaching a US self-declared “de-confliction” zone inside Syria. The Syrian forces were pursuing ISIS in the area, but the US attacked anyway. The US is training yet another rebel group fighting from that base, located near the border of Iraq at al-Tanf, and it claims that Syrian government forces pose a threat to the US military presence there. But the Pentagon has forgotten one thing: it has no authority to be in Syria in the first place! Neither the US Congress nor the UN Security Council has authorized a US military presence inside Syria. So what gives the Trump Administration the right to set u

Click to see the full-size map A prominent Iranian commander, Major General Qasem Soleimani, has been spotted alongside with fighters of Hezbollah and Liwa Fatemiyoun in the area northeast of the US At Tanf garrison at the Syrian-Iraqi border. Soleimani is Commander of the Quds Force, a special forces unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Quds Force is responsible for extraterritorial operations of the IRGC. Photos and videos of Soleimani and members of Iranian-backed groups like Hezbollah and Liwa Fatemiyoun confirm a deep Iranian involvement in the operations at the Syrian-Iraqi border. The Syrian pro-government forces success northeast of At Tanf would allow to establish a land route between Iran and its allied forces in Syria and Lebanon as well as it will allow to increase supplies and support to the Damascus government. Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image