Image is of fires in northern Israel set off by Hezbollah, to force settlers to retreat from their occupied areas, in response to attacks on civilians in Lebanon.

I'm not gonna lie to you - I thought Israel would have started shit with Hezbollah by now which would have derailed whatever megathread theme I had planned, so I didn't bother planning one.

If you want a decent couple pieces going over what Hezbollah has done to Israel, then have a look at How 'Israel' Has Lost The North and Hezbollah's Quarterly Report. It's not exactly the most professional analysis, as you'll see if you read it, but it gets the point across and relies on evidence. In essence, Hezbollah has pushed the Israelis back tens of kilometers and decimated their border infrastructure, all while unveiling anti-aircraft missiles that have forced Israel to reconsider bombing runs. They still probably have the ability to turn various towns and cities in Lebanon to rubble, but Hezbollah can do massive damage back to Israel in turn. This has gone on so long with so little meaningful opposition by Israel that border settlements are going a little haywire and tentatively declaring independence from Israel and saying they don't want IDF troops there anymore. I don't take these terribly seriously from a military standpoint but it is indicative of the Zionist settler mindset crumbling over the last 9 months.

We're now at the point where Israel kinda has to go to war against Hezbollah or the entire Zionist ideology of military deterrence and expansion via illegal settlements simply no longer functions, but that war will also lead to massive destruction for military and civilian facilities (ports, power stations, war factories, etc) which is a massive problem for Israel's continued existence. Hamas continues to function inside Gaza despite the surface occupation of significant areas, including the Gaza-Egypt border, and attrition there is leading to big materiel and psychological losses for Israel too. And Yemen has, for all intents and purposes, prevailed against America's failed attempt to thwart their blockade - with some in the army claiming it's the most intense naval battle America has faced since WW2 - and missile strikes are tentatively beginning to hit or at least threaten ships in the Mediterranean Sea.

Nukes are still lurking quietly in the background, of course, but the Resistance is perfectly aware of that and still seems confident to go ahead with operations, so I can't really do anything but shrug and say that I trust them to do what's right.

The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.

The Country of the Week is Lebanon! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.

Please check out the HexAtlas!

The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.

Israel-Palestine Conflict

If you have evidence of Israeli crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.

Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful. Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]
    ·
    5 months ago

    About the Traitor Gusano General Zuniga:

    Zúñiga served as colonel of the REIM-23 Max Toledo regiment between 2012 and 2013. He was charged for the embezzlement of Bs2.7 million intended for Renta Dignidad and Juancito Pinto during his tenure, and was incarcerated for seven days.

    Zúñiga was relieved of his post of commanding general on 25 June 2024, following a series of threats against Evo Morales. In these, he described the former president as a "traitor" and accused him of plotting a revolution against the current government, while stating that the Constitution of Bolivia would prevent Morales from returning to power.

    Prior to this, Zúñiga was accused by Morales of being the commander of the military organization Pachajcho, allegedly plotting to eliminate the former president as part of a "black plan" against coca production leaders and political opponents.

    • comrade_pibb [comrade/them]
      ·
      5 months ago

      I can't seem to find any good information about what Pachajcho actually is. Seems like a military in-group with ties to smuggling operations but it's hard to find info on the english Internet

      • Redcuban1959 [any]
        ·
        5 months ago

        Pachajcho are like a special forces group inside the army to deal with political issues. In Brazil they also have this, they were called "Kids Pretos".

        Pachajchos' seen as a power group in the Armed Forces (Spanish Only)

        Translation(This is a liberal Newspaper so expect anti-evo propaganda)

        Evo Morales created this group, now denounces persecution by the 'Pachajchos'. Army officers on active and passive duty confirm the existence of this organization. Those mentioned as its main leaders command the Armed Forces.

        The "Pachajchos" is a power group within the Bolivian Army. They have a lot of influence when it comes to appointing officers and have a lot of weight in the fight against contraband. This select organization is led by the Armed Forces leadership. Active and passive duty military personnel recounted the history and actions of the "Pachajchos". A counterpart was requested from the Army General Command and there was no response.

        The "Pachajchos" were created during the last administration of Evo Morales. It is a military power group whose main mission is military intelligence. Joining this organization is not easy. It requires several requirements.

        The military group became known on October 16, when Evo Morales denounced that the Ministry of Defense and the Army Chief of Staff have organized a group called "Pachajcho" to persecute him with military experts in telephone tapping and personal surveillance that were already discovered in Cochabamba. At that time, the leader of the "masismo" warned: "At any moment this group is going to mount evidence; we are being persecuted by our own government through the Ministry of Defense.

        According to Jorge Santistevan, a retired Army colonel and lawyer, "this is a power group within the Army that is managed by the former commander of the Army and now commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces (Hugo Arandia) and General (Juan José) Zúñiga (former chief of the Army General Staff and current commander general of the Army)".

        On Tuesday, November 1, 16 days after Morales' denunciation, and in the middle of the conflict over the census in Santa Cruz, President Luis Arce appointed General Hugo Arandia as the new commander in chief of the Armed Forces, while General Zúñiga took over as general commander of the Army.

        According to Santistevan, this power group not only follows certain personalities, such as Evo Morales, but also enjoys privileges within the institution with important and strategic positions to manage the institution.

        This media sent a letter to General Hugo Arandia requesting information about this group and asking if he is part of it. The letter was left at the Gran Cuartel de Miraflores, in the city of La Paz, last Wednesday, October 19. By the time this report went to press there had been no response.

        However, in February of this year, General Zuñiga, when he served as chief of the Army General Staff, admitted the existence of the group. The officer said that this group is dedicated to intelligence tasks and that non-commissioned and low-ranking military officers are also part of it.

        "The 'Pachajchos' group is made up of excellent officers, non-commissioned officers and sergeants who work in the General Staff. They are also victims of lies and slander. They work for the homeland, for the institution," said Zuñiga at the beginning of the year.