Posted by BW Actual on Dec 17th 2024
BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF
Syria
- The head of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), Ahmed al Shara (fka Abu Mohammed al-Golani), made an impassioned public plea for international recognition as Syria's legitimate leader, asking the U.S. and others to lift sanctions on Syria and revoke HTS's terrorist designations to facilitate reconstruction.
- The fact that U.S. officials are already in direct dialogue with HTS leaders suggests the U.S. is probably considering removing HTS from its list of designated terrorist groups and is likely open to working with al Shara and his fellow jihadis-cum-administrators.
- According to The Economist, Russia is also in direct talks with HTS and considering lifting its terrorist designation. Russia wants HTS's permission to keep its two main military bases in Syria - at Tartus and Khmeimim - and HTS seems open to the idea (even though Russia previously used the bases to target HTS and other rebel groups). However, EU diplomats are lobbying HTS to evict Russia from Syria.
- The dictator HTS deposed, Bashar al Assad, posted a statement to social media claiming he had wanted to stay in Damascus and make a last stand against encroaching rebels but reluctantly fled to Moscow after Russia forced him to leave Syria.
- Pres. Putin hasn't commented on Syria since Assad's escape, and he seems to be avoiding the topic: during an hourlong televised meeting yesterday, Putin brought up mundane topics like servicemembers' mortgages but didn't mention Syria or Assad once.
- Syrians I've spoken with are cautiously optimistic for change.
Russia
- A scooter bomb assassinated Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the commander of Russia's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapon defense forces, in Moscow earlier today.
- Kirillov's death comes just a day after Ukraine charged him in absentia for his role in Russia's alleged use of banned chemical weapons - including chloropicrin - in Ukraine.
- Russia denies ever using banned chemical agents, but Ukraine's security services claims it has logged over 4,800 reported instances of Russian use of chemical agents in Ukraine since Feb. 2022.
Ukraine
- Ukrainian intelligence reported that North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian soldiers accidentally killed eight Chechnyan special operators in a friendly fire incident arising from a language barrier between the brothers in arms.
- The Pentagon also confirmed the first officially-reported North Korean casualties of the war after a battle in Kursk over the weekend.
- Unverified local reports claimed hundreds of North Koreans may have died in that single Kursk battle, but that estimate seems improbably high - even given the North Koreans' lack of experience in or preparation for war. Ukrainian intelligence said it's reviewing the tally.
DRC
- DRC and Rwanda were supposed to meet for more Angola-mediated peace talks this week, but Angola called off the summit after negotiations became deadlocked. VOA reported that the sticking point was DRC's refusal to agree to talk directly to M23 rebels, who DRC accuses Rwanda of backing.
- Despite the lack of progress towards a permanent truce, both sides are mostly respecting the fragile ceasefire agreed in early August - though they continue to exchange fire in sporadic isolated incidents.
- Separately, DRC's government issued a press statement confirming that it has filed criminal complaints against Apple subsidiaries in Belgium and France for "us[ing] minerals pillaged from the DRC and laundered through international supply chains” and "using deceptive commercial practices to assure consumers that the tech giant’s supply chains are clean."
- Apple has vigorously denied knowingly using tainted minerals from DRC, but - like every other major manufacturer that uses gold and 3T minerals - lacks perfect visibility in its supply chain and only reports on the supply chain nodes it's obligated to account for. These cases could help expand manufacturer accountability throughout critical mineral supply chains.
Venezuela
- Two more political prisoners died in custody in Venezuela in the past four days, bringing the total to three deaths among the 2,000+ prisoners rounded up in Pres. Maduro's post-election crackdown.
- Venezuela's Attorney General, Tarek Saab, sought to divert attention from anger over prisoner deaths by boasting that 533 prisoners have already been released in recent weeks. However, Saab's math doesn't match independent tallies: Foro Penal, a rights group, was only able to verify 328 of the government's claimed 533 releases.