International

Biden halts Syria sanctions after earthquake, allowing increased weapons smuggling by terror groups

Published

7 months ago

February 15, 2023

Turkey and Syria suffered a horrific 7.8 Earthquake killing tens of thousands. As a result, President Joe Biden decided to halt sanctions on the Syrian government beginning this week, which critics say will beef up the ability for terror groups to smuggle in weapons and “prop up dictator Bashar al-Assad and make it easier for his regime to misuse humanitarian assistance” reports Foreign Desk News.

Speaking to the Washington Free Beacon, Republican Senator James Risch from Idaho, a ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that President Biden’s Syria general license “has no controls to prevent diversions that could allow aid money to end up in the hands of the regime. “It is misguided and will be a windfall to Assad.”

Videos are already circulating on social media showing “massive convoys” of trucks “sent by the Iranian-backed Shiite Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, sending soldiers and supplies to Syria to aid with the earthquake.”

The Foreign Desk reported that the head of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, was spotted in the western Syrian city of Latakia to observe humanitarian aid and the losses from the earthquake victims, according to various photographs and videos circulating on social media.

The official Twitter account for news outlet Intelli Times tweeted that the IRGC Quds Force Chief was also seen with Mohammad Reza Zahedi, an acting liaison to Hezbollah and Syria’s intelligence on arms shipment.

“Easing sanctions on Assad without guardrails opens the door for the regime to line its pockets without helping those in need,” said Republican Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina.

“Even worse, this feeds into the Assad regime’s false claims that U.S. sanctions were preventing aid and assistance efforts to the Syrian people.

Iraqi militia Al Hashd Al Shaabi crossing the Iraqi border to help Assad in Syria: pic.twitter.com/7fThRz2BTB

— Cyrus Force – Iran (@Michael16374273) February 12, 2023

בדרך לסוריה – שיירת החיזבאללה. pic.twitter.com/YZ6zH33BXI

— אינטלי טיימס – Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) February 12, 2023

Click to comment

International

Mental health crisis spikes among Afghan women after Taliban regained control two years ago

Published

1 day ago

September 21, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

The women of Afghanistan are suffering a mental health crisis since the Taliban regained power two years ago. According to a joint report from three U.N. agencies released Tuesday, approximately 70% of women experience feelings of anxiety, isolation and depression.

The numbers continue to rise, as there has already been a significant jump between April and June of this year alone, with an increase from 57% the preceding quarter.

The report, conducted by U.N. Women, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, interviewed women online, in-person and in group consultations as well as individual telesurveys.

592 Afghan women in 22 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces took part in the study. The Associated Press reports:

They have barred women from most areas of public life and work and banned girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade. They have prohibited Afghan women from working at local and non-governmental organizations. The ban was extended to employees of the United Nations in April.

Opportunities to study continued to shrink as community-based education by international organizations was banned and home-based schooling initiatives were regularly shut down by the de facto authorities — a term use by the U.N. for the Taliban government.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world with restrictions on female education and the rights of Afghan women and children are on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The report also served as a vessel for Afghan women to send a message to the rest of the world: do not validate the Taliban government. Forty-six percent of women said international recognition of the Taliban government should not happen under any circumstances, while 50% warned that recognition should only occur under specific conditions contingent on improving women’s rights.

The report notes that the women expressed concern that recognition would only encourage the Taliban government to continue becoming stricter in their policies and practices against women and girls.

Afghan women had specific ideas and suggestions: they “urged the international community to continue political and economic sanctions against the Taliban, including by not granting exemptions to a travel ban. They urged an increase in engagement with the Taliban on gender equality and women’s rights, including by engaging community and religious leaders in awareness and advocacy efforts” writes the Associated Press.