The Syrian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement extending “its condolences to the families of the Syrian and American security personnel who were killed in the terrorist attacks that took place in Palmyra and northern Syria.” The statement reiterated Syria’s “firm commitment to fighting the Islamic State.” A US official told CNN that since the December 13 attack, US forces and partner forces have carried out 10 operations that resulted in the killing or arrest of approximately 23 individuals. On December 14, Syria’s Ministry of Interior said that its units carried out an operation in Palmyra to arrest five suspects accused of involvement in the killing of US service members in “coordination with the General Intelligence Directorate and the International Coalition forces.”
Archiv: „Global War on Terror“ / Terrorkrieg / AUMF 2001 / unlimited neverending Authorization for Use of Military Force / granted to the US president by Congress on September 14th 2001
US launches retaliatory strikes in Syria on dozens of ISIS targets
Hegseth said „Operation Hawkeye Strike“ was carried out in Syria „to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites in direct response to the attack on U.S. forces that occurred on Dec. 13 in Palmyra, Syria.
U.S. Central Command also confirmed in a statement that Jordanian fighter aircraft also participated in Friday’s strikes.
„This is not the beginning of a war — It is a declaration of vengeance,“ said Hegseth.
Iraq welcomes US vote to repeal war authorizations
The ministry added that the move “sends a clear signal to the international community that Iraq has become a secure and attractive destination for investment.”
On counterterrorism, the ministry stressed that the repeal does not weaken ongoing efforts, noting that the 2001 authorization—enacted after the September 11 attacks to confront al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups—remains in force.
US gets green light …Military aircraft to use local airports
“In keeping with established bilateral cooperation, the ministry has granted approvals for United States military aircraft to transit Trinidad and Tobago’s airports in the coming weeks,” Monday’s release stated.
Trump declares ‚Venezuelan regime‘ a foreign terrorist organization, orders oil tanker blockade
President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a total blockade of oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, declaring the Nicolás Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization and accusing it of using stolen U.S. assets to finance terrorism, trafficking and other criminal activity.
„Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,“ Trump said on Truth Social. „It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before – Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.
US War Department Says ‘No Force Posture Changes’ in Syria After Three Americans Killed
(December 15, 2025)
“Currently, we have no force posture changes to announce,” a War Department official told Antiwar.com when asked if the Trump administration was planning to withdraw from Syria.
The US withdrew a few hundred soldiers from Syria earlier this year, but the comment signals a full withdrawal isn’t on the table. There are currently around 1,000 US troops in the country, a Pentagon official told The New York Times.
Australia‘s Albanese rejects Netanyahu comment that Palestine recognition prompted Sydney killings
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s accusation that Canberra‘s recognition of Palestinian statehood fuelled antisemitism following the deadly shooting in Sydney.
In an interview with ABC News, Albanese said he doesn‘t accept a link between Palestine‘s recognition and the shooting attack at the Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach.
Bondi Beach Survivor‘s Shocking Claim About Police Inaction During 20 Minutes of Terror
(December 14, 2025)
The account, provided by eyewitness Shmulik Scuri, has intensified scrutiny of the New South Wales Police tactics during the attack, which has been declared a terrorist incident that left at least 12 people dead and 29 injured.
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Mr Scuri, who was with his family, told reporters that for ‘20 minutes‘ shooters continued to fire while approximately four police officers stood by without returning fire. He said one suspect reloaded openly, uninterrupted, and that officers did not engage.
‚Nobody gave fire back. Nothing. Like they froze,‘ he said. ‚I don‘t understand why.‘
How the Bondi terror attack unfolded | 7.30
Dec 15, 2025 #ABCNewsIndepth #ABCNewsAustralia
Australia is in shock following the terror attack at Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead. In an extended program of 7.30, we look at how the attack unfolded, hear from community leaders and people who were there. Plus, Sarah Ferguson interviews the Prime Minister and NSW Premier.
We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and one Civilian Interpreter.
Likewise, we pray for the three injured soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well. This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them. The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Insider attack in Syria? What we know about the ambush that killed 2 Americans
The attack occurred outside a building in Palmyra where officials from Syria’s Interior Ministry had travelled from Damascus to meet their local counterparts. According to a US official, American soldiers and their interpreter were outside the building when a lone gunman opened fire from a nearby structure with what appeared to be a machine gun. Three additional American service members were wounded, as were two members of the Syrian security forces.
The American soldiers who were killed were part of an Iowa National Guard contingent assigned to the Syria mission, according to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. US Central Command said the wounded Americans were evacuated by helicopter to the al Tanf garrison near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders, where they received medical treatment.
‚ISIS attack‘ on US troops: Trump vows ‚very serious retaliation‘ — what we know so far
The US Central Command (USCENTCOM) on Saturday (local time) stated the attack as they characterised it as an ambush by a lone ISIS-linked gunman, who was engaged and killed during the incident.
Military expert outlines U.S.-Syria response after insider attack on American personnel
Glenn Ignazio warns of complex threats from ISIS and insider attacks, urging Syria to verify forces and boost defense posture.
Insider Attack in Palmyra: Security Officer Strikes
A Syrian security forces member launched an attack on Syrian and U.S. military personnel in Palmyra over the weekend, according to three local officials speaking to Reuters.
A spokesperson from the Syrian interior ministry confirmed on Al-Ikhbariya TV that while the attacker belonged to their ranks, he did not hold a leadership position, though they did not clarify his exact rank.
US Needs Troops in Syria to Stop ISIS Comeback, CENTCOM Nominee Says
(June 24, 2025)
The U.S. and the SDF stayed clear of Syria’s civil war, which led to the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia.
The country’s new president is Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the Islamist rebel group Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that swept to power last December and has vowed to establish a tolerant, multi-ethnic state.
After months of deliberation, the U.S. has thrown its support behind the new Syrian leader. President Trump announced last month that he would lift sanctions on the country, a decision he made with encouragement from Saudi Arabia while Trump was in the Middle East.
US rebuffed Israeli demands to keep more US troops in northeast Syria, sources say
(April 23, 2025)
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East chief at the National Security Council, Eric Trager, rebuffed Israeli and northeast Syrian officials in the last several weeks, saying that the US is transitioning from a “military to political role” in northeast Syria and that the drawdown of US troops would continue, the sources told MEE, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions.
“Israel is opposed to the US withdrawing from northeast Syria,” one former US official told MEE. “They want to see the US extract concessions from Turkey on demilitarisation before any American boots leave Syrian soil.”
US military said poised to slash troops in Syria; Israel seeks to limit reduction
(April 16, 2025)
Israel has been kept in the loop about plan that could see US troop presence shrunk from 2,000 to 1,000; Jerusalem fears it will increase Turkey’s ‘appetite’ to control Syria.
(…)
Trump announced a full withdrawal of US troops from Syria during his first term but never followed through completely. Then too, Israel opposed the move, expressing concern that an American withdrawal would create a power vacuum in the region, allowing Tehran to expand its military entrenchment near the Israeli border.
US military poised to slash troops in Syria, officials say
(April 16, 2025)
The U.S. military has about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria across a number of bases, mostly in the northeast. The troops are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.
One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that consolidation could reduce the number of troops in Syria to about 1,000.
What to Know About the Admiral Named by Hegseth as Boat Strike Comes Under Scrutiny
During the Sept. 2 strikes, Bradley was leading the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which oversees elite military teams, handles complex and sensitive military missions, and at times works with the CIA. In October, he assumed command of the JSOC’s parent group, the United States Special Operations Command, which oversees the military’s special operations in more than 80 countries.
US official says shooting suspect was vetted by intel agencies and “clean on all checks”
At the time, the CIA would have done its own vetting of him through a variety of databases, including the National Counterterrorism Center database, to see if he had any known ties to terrorist groups. The CIA did its own vetting before he started working with them and kept the identities of those they worked with secret, the official said.
NCTC would have vetted him again during Operation Allies Welcome in 2021 for any ties to terrorism before he was allowed into the US. He was clean then as well and did not show any ties to terror organizations, per the senior US official.
Afghan national charged in Guard ambush shooting drove across US to carry out attack, officials say
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to provide a motive for Wednesday afternoon’s brazen act of violence which occurred just blocks from the White House. The presence of troops in the nation’s capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint.
National Guard shooting suspect served in CIA counterterrorism unit, group says
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the Afghan man who allegedly shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, previously served in one of Afghanistan‘s elite counterterrorism units, according to AfghanEvac, a nonprofit run by U.S. veterans and others who served in Afghanistan.
The unit was operated by the CIA with direct U.S. intelligence and military support, according to AfghanEvac.
Attentat auf Nationalgarde: Wie Trump den Angriff instrumentalisiert
Washingtons Bürgermeisterin und auch die örtliche Polizei haben sich immer wieder gegen den Einsatz der Nationalgarde in ihrer Stadt ausgesprochen. Der Bundesdistrikt Washington D.C. hatte sogar eine Klage gegen die Trump-Regierung eingereicht – und recht bekommen. Eine Bundesrichterin entschied vor etwa einer Woche, dass der immer wieder verlängerte Einsatz der Nationalgarde in der Stadt illegal sei.
Von dieser Entscheidung zeigt sich der US-Präsident aber unbeeindruckt. Nach den Schüssen auf die beiden Nationalgardisten fühlt er sich im Recht. Seinen Pentagon-Chef hat er jetzt sogar angewiesen, noch weitere 500 Nationalgardisten in die Hauptstadt zu schicken.
Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen: Calculating the Millions-High Death Toll of America’s Post-9/11 Wars
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
Dick Cheney may be gone, but the wars he waged are forever
(November 8, 2025)
As Bush‘s vice president, Cheney became a key architect of the US „war on terror“, which included the 2002 invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 war on Iraq, and sweeping intelligence, surveillance and torture programmes.
Most notoriously, Cheney helped the Bush administration construct an elaborate double lie as a pretext for the invasion of Iraq.
(…)
Cheney‘s true legacy, then, lies not only in the „war on terror“ he helped engineer, but in the political and moral infrastructure he left behind.
More than two decades later, his post-9/11 world order – defined by endless wars, government overreach and impunity – endures, and today‘s war criminals, following in his path, roam free.
Dick Cheney funeral: Guests begin to arrive, Trump and Vance not invited
A polarizing and powerful figure, Cheney worked for four decades in Washington. He served in Congress, was secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush and then vice president under President George W. Bush.
He played a leading role in the response to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, including the war on terror and invasion of Iraq.
A funeral for Dick Cheney, and the ‚adults-in-the-room‘ GOP establishment
Cheney and Bush took office under a cloud of controversy after the Supreme Court ended Florida‘s recount during the 2000 presidential election. They left the White House eight years later with the economy collapsing into the Great Recession and two unpopular wars raging.
It was that political landscape that Trump found so amendable to his own outsider campaign in 2016 that helped catapult him from New York real estate and reality TV star into the White House. Along the way, Trump would accuse Bush and Cheney of leading the U.S. into „endless wars.“
EU Intelligence Network: ENFOPOL
(January 2010)
ENFOPOL (Enforcement Police) is a European electronic intelligence network, which is able to fully track and monitor all types of electronic communicaƟons. Police have connected the EU states and it is organized aŌer the ECHELON (Electronic Surveillance OperaƟon) – the U.S. intelligence network, which includes: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain. European police cooperaƟon on this basis has been established in the form of working groups –
the police-squad experts, gathered from all EU countries, primarily in the field of the fight against cyber-crime. These experts have determined the legal way to promote, attain and improve the fight against contemporary forms of security threats, terrorism, organized crime, and the like.
IntroducƟon
Modern electronic devices have not only become a matter of prestige, but also a pressing need, for both state and non-state organizations. Some experts and scholars view them as a product of a “complex interdependence”, while others deem that they have been created as a result of electronic revolution and therefore have to be an integral part of life. Notwithstanding the above, many criminal and terrorist organizations see the inventions related to electronics as an opportune tool for their activities and as a way to get rich.
Statement from Heba Muraisi
I knew that in order to win this fight, we had to engage the enemy’s main force, and here in the UK, that would be Elbit. It wasn’t a recruitment, but rather a conscious incorporation from my part: I became Palestine Action.
And now, from behind these steel walls and sensors, I will continue the fight and to resist. This is for the mothers who can’t bury their children, for the fathers who had to bury all of theirs. For the children who have no family left and too young to understand why. And for my family – who I don’t even know if they’ve made it out of Rafah.
I will not compromise until all demands are met. Long live the intifada.
Statement from Jony Cink
My whiteness and class status protect me from the worst of the British prison system. I often think of Palestinian prisoners in zionist torture dungeons, of my comrades punished for their faith, with imprints of fascist tendencies, that mature in British prisons, on their skin. We stand united by our desire for freedom. Shared, collective freedom, One that can only be achieved through relentless struggle. One that demands nothing short of justice.
It is with these principles in mind that I join a collective, open-ended hunger strike demanding cessation of all operations by Elbit Systems UK; immediate unconditional bail for all Prisoners for Palestine imprisoned before trial; right to a fair trial which can’t be conducted without the disclosure of all foreign and political interference in our cases; complete end to the use of terrorism legislation against those acting to stop a genocide; and an immediate end to censorship of all communication to and from prisons.