Following is a thread of quotes from #TheGlobalJigsaw latest episode on the #IRGC, #Quds force, #Basij militias - and th ideological blueprint for #Iran so called Axis of Resistance. Whole episode here:
Another #Iranian - the current mayor of the capital #Tehran - put it even more bluntly. He said that the Islamic Republic now ruled over four Arab capitals: #Baghdad , #Beirut , #Damascus and #Sana’a.
It was a #Libyan journalist in response to #Bush 's axis of evil' speech who said that these three countries instead formed an axis of resistance because they were against colonial and American interests and that phrase went on to be picked up by Iranian media.
They had a Burger King set up at the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) by late April 2003. Pretty quick work.
The main logistics challenge was coin change for cash purchases (credit was too hard due to limited comms and coins were too heavy to transport via air). That's when they came up with cardboard coins - I believe they were called "pogs." Instead of getting change in coins, you got a bunch of these:
Rockets fired at the US embassy in #Baghdad's Green Zone
At least three rockets targeted the US embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone at dawn on Friday, landing on the outskirts of the district housing government and diplomatic buildings, an #Iraq security official said.
#CAIRO — After a long journey from #Gaza, more than 100 American citizens and their families have entered #Egypt through the #RafahCrossing. Jonathan Webster, the #USEmbassy in Cairo's consul general, said some of those families are telling him they ran out of food and water during their journeys. #Israel
At least 84 people died when two blasts ripped through the crowd near #Suleimani’s tomb in the city of #Kerman, four years after he was killed by a US drone strike in #Baghdad. Suleimani had been a staunch enemy of IS, which resents the damage he did to its cause in #Iraq and #Syria. #ISIS#Israel
#Israel today murdered the wife and two children of #AlJazeera's #Gaza Bureau Chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh. This comes after the US Secretary of State demanded that Al Jazeera 'tone down' its coverage of Israel's mass slaughter of #Palestinians. The killings echo the US's missile strike on Al Jazeera's #Baghdad office during the 2003 invasion, which was a deliberate targeting that resulted in the death of journalist Tareq Ayyoub. Any #journalists heroic enough to depict the horrors of #American and Israeli #imperialism are considered fair game.
2020: Shock And Dismay After #Trump Pardons #Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians
by Laurel Wamsley
December 23, 20205:44 PM ET
"Among the pardons made by President Trump this week, the pardon of four former guards for Blackwater has been regarded by some as particularly galling.
"Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were convicted six years ago in the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians and the wounding of 17 others. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing on #Baghdad's #NisourSquare with heavy gunfire and grenade launchers.
"The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. They claimed they were fired on, but prosecutors said the Blackwater guards opened fire first. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison."
ʿArīb al-Ma’mūnīya - The Beyonce of 9th century Baghdad (www.medievalists.net)
Today few people would know the name ʿArīb al-Ma’mūnīya. But during her lifetime, she may have been the most famous person in the world....