Saturday, September 6, 2025

Athens Dispatch - Corruption Galore!

Version 1: Sat, Sep 6 2025

Flag of Greece
By Unknown - ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ, Public Domain, Link

Source: Wikimedia

My collection of recent corruption news stories from Greece:

Money Laundering via Betting

Public servants and Ministry directors “laundered” money through betting companies – Bets Up to €1 million; Over 200 people targeted by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue: The Authority has identified these 200 persons and has already started the audit, comparing their tax returns with the large sums they were gambling https://en.protothema.gr/2025/09/03/public-servants-and-ministry-directors-laundered-money-through-betting-companies-bets-up-to-e1-illion-over-200-people-targeted-by-the-independent-authority-for-public-rev/ - Proto Thema - Sep 3 - Archive https://archive.ph/sz0dg

The chairman of the Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority, former Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Charalampos Vourliotis, has shut down the channels used to launder illicit funds through betting companies that operate legally but were being used to clean large amounts of dirty money.

Each gambler reportedly played and transferred amounts ranging from €100 up to €1,000,000. Among them were high-ranking public officials, including directors of ministries and public services, who could not justify the large sums they gambled through legal betting companies in sports betting.

This is potentially the most interesting recent case of corruption because the people involved are very well off, and with important state jobs. The Greek police should investigate their connections, school and colleges they went, whether they play golf and tennis together, as well as whether they are members of social clubs of ‘philathropic’ nature.

Fuel Smuggling

Greek authorities uncover cross-border fuel fraud scheme https://en.protothema.gr/2025/09/04/fuel-smuggling-ring-over-e3-million-in-profits-they-had-tampered-with-the-pumps/ - Proto Thema - Sep 4 - Archive https://archive.ph/V8qZn

Members of a fuel smuggling ring, dismantled by Greek authorities, managed to pocket more than €3,000,000 through their operations.

… At the top was a leadership core headed by a 38-year-old man, who notably shares the same surname as a member of the Greek Mafia who was murdered several years ago.

The network had bases in areas of Attica, Trikala, and Thessaloniki, with connections to unknown individuals in Poland, Bulgaria, and Albania. They imported solvents, adulterated fuels, tampered with pumps, and sold marine diesel to consumers seeking heating oil without receipts.

Organised Agricultural Subsidy Fraud and Corruption

Greece: The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) probes OPEKEPE officials over alleged organised agricultural subsidy fraud and corruption https://www.eppo.europa.eu/en/media/news/greece-eppo-probes-opekepe-officials-over-alleged-organised-agricultural-subsidy-fraud - European Public Prosecutor’s Office - 20 May 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/Kap3z

Between 2019 and 2022, a significant number of individuals presented themselves as young or new farmers and obtained payment entitlements from the national reserve, funded by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), based on false declarations. These included misrepresentations about the ownership or lease of pasture lands eligible for subsidies, giving the false appearance of active farming activities.

In most cases, the pastures declared were in fact public lands, previously allocated only for use by livestock breeders who lacked private agricultural land. These pastures were often located far away from the actual place of residence of the individuals claiming to own or lease them.

In the following years, up to 2024, the same individuals continued to submit false declarations of livestock, enabling them to be allocated public grazing land, which was then used to activate and maintain their payment entitlements.

Such illegal practice may have been organised in a systematic manner with the involvement of members of the Board of Directors and officials of the Greek Payment and Control Agency for Guidance and Guarantee Community Aids (OPEKEPE).

This started because of EU investigation not Greek government involvement. The government was forced to investigate and they control the pace of the announcement. Although the goverment is all about new tech including AI this could have been detected with simple database search, assuming they did not know about it at all which is the issue.

The Cretan Mafia

At least 48 people have been arrested involved mainly in drugs, guns trafficking. Also a curious case blackmailing a church figure resulting in the sale of choice piece of land to an Israeli fund.

Mafia in Crete: Money laundering – How the property of the Holy Monastery of Agia Triada was stolen https://en.protothema.gr/2025/09/02/mafia-in-crete-money-laundering-how-the-property-of-the-holy-monastery-of-agia-triada-was-stolen/ Archive https://archive.ph/rjdrN

Crete Mafia Scandal: Zorba’s Land Sold for Pennies https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/09/02/crete-mafia-scandal-zorbas-land-sold-for-pennies/ by Bill Giannopoulos - Greek City Times - Sep 2 - Archive https://archive.ph/7bVag

The mafia boss reportedly received 175 acres of prime coastal land as a payoff—land located right where the iconic 1964 film Zorba the Greek, starring Anthony Quinn, was shot.

My comment

Every year we have the Thessaloniki International Fair in which the prime minister announces economic policy changes including social benefits increases.

  • The 89th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) will be a unique celebration for everyone, as it coincides with the 100th anniversary of the organization’s establishment in 1925 https://thessalonikifair.gr/en

The recent corruption news were timed to build up the PM’s appearance and neutralize the OPEKEPE scandal.

I maintain that the scandals in this country can be a source of inspiration for the film industry as in my previous post LLM: Make me a story!


Started: Sat, Sep 6 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, August 2, 2025

LLM: Destabilization of Denmark

Christiansborg (Matthias Schalk).jpg
By Matthias Schalk - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Christiansborg Palace houses the Folketing, the Supreme Court, and government offices - Wikimedia

Given Trump’s statements about Greenland is it possible he will attempt to destabilize Denmark?

Various LLMs were asked to act as advisors to the Danish government and help them prepare for possible US destabilization efforts by identifying weak spots in social etc issues.

Needless to say this is an intellectual exercise not a viable option.

Due to document size you can read the responses on Google Drive: Destabilization of Denmark - PDF 21 pages.

Feedback will be appreciated!


Started: Sat, Aug 2, 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, July 26, 2025

Russia Update

Version 1: Fri, July 25, 2025

HSE University.jpg
By JamesSmith.HSE - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

One of the HSE University main buidings, located in Moscow on Myasnitskaya Street - Wikimedia


Newly read articles that will be added to our File: Russia https://metagora.blogspot.com/2024/03/file-russia.html page in due time.


Sergei Karaganov

Professor Sergei Karaganov gave three interviews with Tariq Marzbaan and Nora Hoppe at Al Mayadeen http://english.almayadeen.net discussing the developments in Russia and the world:

Recent commentary:

Sergey Karaganov: Russia must not fall into Trump’s ‘honey trap’ - Western Europe might be led by ‘pygmies,’ but the Americans are smarter operators, the political scientist believes http://rt.com/russia/614051-sergey-karaganov-russia-trump - RT - 11 Mar, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/xgfxY


Dmitri Trenin

From Restraining To Deterring: Nuclear Weapons, Geopolitics, Coalition Strategy https://karaganov.ru/en/from-restraining-to-deterring/ by Dmitri V. Trenin, Sergei I. Avakyants and Sergei A. Karaganov - PDF 96 pages - Archive https://archive.ph/R0UpC

Why 2025 is going to be more dangerous than you think https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/comments/why-2025-is-going-to-be-more-dangerous-than-you-think/ by Dmitri Trenin - RIAC - Jan 20, 2025- Archive https://archive.ph/wo3aD

World War III has already begun https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/comments/world-war-iii-has-already-begun/ by Dmitry Trenin - RIAC - July 16, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/FIxfC


Gennady Gatilov

Statement by Ambassador Gennady Gatilov at the Conference on Disarmament (Escalation of the Israel-Iran Conflict) https://geneva.mid.ru/en/activities/news/statement_by_ambassador_gennady_gatilov_at_the_conference_on_disarmament_escalation_of_the_israel_ir/ - June 17, 2025, Geneva - Archive https://archive.ph/XiOMF


Timofey Bordachev

Enslaved: Here’s how the US made Western Europe its puppet - From powerhouse to pawn, the region has slowly descended under American rule https://www.rt.com/news/612715-us-made-europe-its-puppet/ By Timofey Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club - Archive https://archive.ph/bYdi7


Andrey Kortunov

US-Russia Grand Bargain Without Europe - Andrey Kortunov, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGr5PyYdKoI ~65 min - Kortunov is the former Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC)


Olga Butorina

Dr. of Science (Economics), Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor, Deputy Director for scientific work, RAS Institute of Europe, RIAC Member

The Draghi report interrupts the EU silent “family dinner” https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/comments/the-draghi-report-interrupts-the-eu-silent-family-dinner/ by Olga Butorina - RIAC - Oct 11, 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/C74YO

(Great follow up reading: The European Green Deal Has Failed https://compactmag.com/article/the-european-green-deal-has-failed/ by Thomas Fazi - Compact Magazine - Jul 07, 2025 - (@battleforeurope @compactmag_) - Archive https://archive.ph/MGbVU)


Anastasia Tolstukhina

Head of the Tech Policy Program at the Russian International Affairs Council

US Semiconductor Reindustrialization: Implications for the World https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/us-semiconductor-reindustrialization-implications-for-the-world/ by Anastasia Tolstukhina - RIAC - Jul 9, 2025 - (@Russian_Council) - Archive https://archive.ph/7MChW


Started: Fri, July 25, 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Israel's nuclear weapons

Version 2: Sat, Jul 12, 2025

Mordechai Vanunu, 2005 (cropped).JPG
By Ali kazak 9 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Mordechai Vanunu, Israel whistleblower and activist - Wikimedia.

Avid listener and all that, but I do not remember ever the Greek radio mentioning the Israeli nuclear weapons program until a few days ago. It went something like this on ΕΡΤ (Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση)

Journo: What else can Israel do?

Expert: Of course they have nuclear weapons…

And that was that, and he continued with cyberwar etc. On July 2 (or 3) another expert appeared on the same station

Journo 2: Iran can close the Strait of Hormuz

Military Expert: Israel can use the Samson Option and attack everybody

Again nothing followed in terns of context. When did the got the nukes? how did they get the nukes?

The point is the moment we realize Israel is the one holding the ultimate weapon the Iranian afforts should be seen in a different light. The claims made by numerous Greek commentators that with Israel we have a strategic alliance should be rejected because how can we trust our supposedly allies when they have lied to so many others? Time to reorient Greek foreign policy away from Israel.


For those puzzled about the Israeli nuclear weapons capabilities, here are a few links:

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation - https://armscontrolcenter.org/ (@nukes_of_hazard)

  • Fact Sheet: Israel’s Nuclear Inventory https://armscontrolcenter.org/fact-sheet-israels-nuclear-arsenal/ - PDF 2 pages
  • Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though the country neither acknowledges nor denies the existence of a nuclear arsenal. Israel is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has not accepted IAEA safeguards on some of its principle nuclear activities. Their policy of nuclear opacity has been generally tolerated by both allies and adversaries.

Hidden history: How ‘Israel’ acquired nukes: Kit Klarenberg exposes the Zionist entity’s nuclear weapons program and its dark, concealed history, one that continues to fuel global instability while escaping scrutiny https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/opinion/hidden-history--how--israel--acquired-nukes by Kit Klarenberg - 13 Jun 2025 - (@MayadeenEnglish)

The war game: David Hirst’s account of the Arab-Israeli conflict, The Gun and the Olive Branch, caused a storm 25 years ago. In this edited extract from his new and updated edition he offers a personal and highly controversial view of the current crisis in the Middle East https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/21/israelandthepalestinians.bookextracts - 21 Sep 2003

Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: “Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.” I consider it all hopeless at this point. We shall have to try to prevent things from coming to that, if at all possible. Our armed forces, however, are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under.’

The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy - by Seymour M. Hersh (Random House 1991) https://ia800205.us.archive.org/32/items/Sampson_Option/Sampson_Option_text.pdf PDF 366 pages

The Unspoken Kennedy Truth https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-unspoken-kennedy-truth-laurent-guy-not/1145962497?ean=9782957170418 by Laurent Guyénot (2021)

Israel And The Assassinations Of The Kennedy Brothers https://archive.org/details/israel-and-the-assassinations-of-the-kennedy-brothers_202404 Documentary by Laurent Guyénot - 86 minutes.

A Warning From History https://amazon.com/Warning-History-Cory-Hughes/dp/B0CL14VQY6 by Cory Hughes (Draft2Digital 2023)


Started: Sat, Jul 28, 2025

About Metagora

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Hollywood and the Houthis

Version 2: Sat, Jun 7, 2025

Reacher

Reacher was developed by Nick Santora. Santora is undoubtedly a very creative guy with credits going back to The Sopranos. But he has done shows such as FBI and Law and Order, and FUBAR, so Reacher is no surprise.

The series in a jiffy: retired Military Police Officer Jack Reacher travels around the US confronting criminals. He has no property except his clothes. He gets help from some of the members of his old team.

There are three main villains in the third season:

  • Russian mafia - providing weapons, explosives, etc
  • Yemeni terrorists planning attacks in the US
  • Quinn, a devious Asian guy, intermediary between Russians and Yemenis

Russian mafia types and Asian criminals are not new in American TV, what is new are the Yemeni terrorists. What it is meant here is the Ansar Allah movement usually referred to as the Houthis by the western press. By using the name of one of the tribes involved and not the movement lessens the significance of their effort. Using ‘Yemenis’ in the show hides the issue under one more layer of mystification for what for the western press is an Iran proxy, as opposed to a liberation movement.

Their leader is planning to do some terrorizing but even before the deal is sealed, he wants to have a good time with his special preference a redhead who incidentally happens to be drugged. Needless to say the good guys (and gal) save the day. Reacher rides his bike towards the sunset. Two points of interest:

  • The series manages to have three geopolitical threats weaved in one narrative even obliquely: Russia, Iran and China
  • Reacher acts alone, with a bit of help from old friends. An old theme in Hollywood to have a hero with no formal organization.

Reacher acts as a defender of the country against the three threats from overseas, against a mini invasion. Defending a country from invasion is an old theme (Dodds 2014)

The invasion novel was a historical genre which gained considerable popularity between the 1870s and 1914. … By 1914, over 400 books had been published about hypothetical invasions by overseas powers. Their popularity owes a great deal to the contemporary zeitgeist associated with Anglo-German rivalries, rearmament, and imperial competition in Africa and the Mediterranean. Public fears about ‘foreigners’ and German spy networks grew accordingly.

Reacher comes from this tradition, but there are more ways to do propaganda and (McMaken 2025) covers British influence on US and beyond, including going beyond fiction to actually constructing news and events. We are into the realm of fake news and false flags.

We have come a long way from Reacher so one last comment: consider comparing McMaken and the propaganda about the Belgian atrocities of 1914 and the propaganda about October 7: (Winstanley 2024) and (Yusuf 2024); and the British propaganda with Intrepid against the ‘Isolationists’ before WW2 and the more recent ‘Steele Dossier’ affair (Mate 2021) and (Sperry 2022). History seems to repeat itself.


References and Additional Information

(Dodds 2014) Geopolitics: A Very Short Introduction by Klaus Dodds, Oxford University Press, 2e, 2014

Klaus Dodds (@klausdodds) “Professor Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics and Executive Dean for the School of Life Sciences and Environment at Royal Holloway, and University lead for environmental sustainability.”

(McMaken 2025) How War Propaganda Has Fueled American Foreign Policy for a Century https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-war-propaganda-has-fueled-american-foreign-policy-century by Ryan McMaken - Mises Wire - May 15, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/B8JkI

Ryan McMaken (@ryanmcmaken) is executive editor at the Mises Institute.

(Winstanley 2024) How Israel killed hundreds of its own people on 7 October https://electronicintifada.net/content/how-israel-killed-hundreds-its-own-people-7-october/49216 by Asa Winstanley - The Electronic Intifada (@intifada) - 7 October 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/jw5l6

(Yusuf 2024) ‘Beheaded Babies’ – How UK Media Reported Israel’s Fake News As Fact: Britain’s national press have been indispensable allies of Israel throughout its brutal war on Gaza https://www.declassifieduk.org/beheaded-babies-how-uk-media-reported-israels-fake-news-as-fact/ by Hamza Yusuf - 4 January 2024 - Archive https://archive.ph/9qWKE

(Mate 2021) The Rise and Fall of the ‘Steele Dossier’: A case study in mass hysteria and media credulity by Aaron Maté - The Nation - January 11, 2021 - Archive https://archive.ph/5Hk2b

(Sperry 2022) How the FBI Copied Parts of the Debunked Steele Dossier Directly Into Its Spy Requests By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations - December 20, 2022 - Archive https://archive.ph/Z5tbh


Started: Fri, Jun 6, 2025

About Metagora

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

UK Security - Update - 8.1e

Version 8.1: Tue, May 6, 2025

The links here will eventually be merged with out previous efforts in a pdf document hopefully:

King’s College London

People associated with King’s College London, who have clearly western globalist positions and views.

Karim Haggag

SIPRI’s ongoing decay from peace to mainstream military security – its new director: Naturally, nobody cares about that fraud in today’s Sweden https://thetransnational.substack.com/p/sipris-ongoing-decay-from-peace-to By Jan Oberg - Transnational Foundation, April 16, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/J0hyF

To continue the decay and get even further away from anything called peace, SIPRI has just appointed a new director. His name is Karim Haggag, and you can read about this Egyptian career diplomat and his role at the The American University in Cairo here – a servant, one can safely assume, of US military interests with close relations to hawkish people like Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger of the Albright Stonebridge Group – that, by the way, goes unmentioned in SIPRI’s official announcement about him here.

In case you want to know more about Madeleine Albright, she served as Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State, masterminded the fake negotiation at Rambouillet about Kosovo with the NATO bombings that followed and thought, as she stated it, it was acceptable to kill half a million Iraqi women and children by the US economic sanctions.

Haggag holds only a master’s degree in War Studies from King’s College, London, and has served as a career diplomat most of his life, in Washington. Here is his official CV at the American University Cairo - https://archive.ph/Gq5EB – which indicates two selected publications ten years ago and his academic interests in “security.” Nothing indicates any knowledge, experience or interest in the academic discipline of peace and conflict research.

In short, surely the right mainstream man for the former peace research institute SIPRI, in the year 2025.

Emmanuel (Manos) Karagiannis

Emmanuel Karagiannis, Reader in International Security, King’s College London https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/karagiannis-dr-emmanuel

Frequently asked by Greek media to comment on international affairs. He has a consistent pro-western stance lacking critical spirit. It seems the concept of ‘western imperialism’ has passed him by. One popular radio personality here introduced him recently with something along the line: “the British establishment trust him to teach their students”. Of course they do.

Karagiannis holds two PhDs, the first in Theology and Religious Studies and the second in post-Soviet Politics. Here is an excerpt of a recent interview of retired Greek diplomat Vasilios Bornovas about Ukraine (Google translation):

I must point out here that Autocephaly led to conflicts within the flock, to the violent seizure of church property by the Ukrainian police, to the expulsion of priests and archpriests, and to the emergence of a new Church that was apparently created to serve multiple roles:

The efforts to promote and consolidate this new Church were largely supported by USAID through the organization of numerous events, rental of advertising banners, and radio and television time.

This the kind of issue Karagiannis avoids. Here is another example involving Zionism and foreign policy. Foreign policy justified in terms of a sacred text?

Netanyahu and his map of "The New Middle East"

Netanyahu Shows Map of ‘New Middle East’—Without Palestine—to UN General Assembly - Source: commondreams.org

To be fair to Karagiannis, Greek journalists are not well educated or informed so their questioning reflects that, but then it is his responsibility to take the lead and show the extent of the issues involved.


Information Warfare, Disinformation, Propaganda

Gaza

‘National Scandal’: The BBC’s Gaza Cover-up - Britain’s ‘public service broadcaster’ is keeping the public in the dark about UK support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, new research finds https://www.declassifieduk.org/national-scandal-the-bbcs-gaza-cover-up/ by Mark Curtis - Jan 15, 2025 - Declassified UK - Archive https://archive.ph/77zr9

There are no headlines about the possible use of UK arms by Israel in Gaza, or any directly reflecting the repeated calls by groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to halt all UK arms exports and military assistance to Israel.

The prominent legal action against the government for arming Israel brought by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), the Global Legal Action Network and Al-Haq, has been ignored by the BBC. Declassified could find no BBC written coverage of this at all.

Israel-Palestine war: Legal centre seeks to prosecute UK for Israeli ‘war crimes’ complicity - International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, co-chaired by Conservative MP, says Britain aiding path to war crimes in Gaza https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-legal-centre-prosecute-uk-complicity-war-crimes - 14 Oct 2023 - Archive https://archive.ph/BW3Rz

USAID funding of BBC Media Action

We have here a case of the ‘special relationship’ between UK and USA. Funding from US, propaganda from BBC which then gets off as charity.

Official BBC Media Action statement https://www.bbc.com/mediaaction/press-release/4-feb-25 - 4 Feb 2025:

Like many international development organisations, BBC Media Action has been affected by the temporary pause in US government funding, which amounts to about 8% of our income in 2023-24. We’re doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our partners and the people we serve.

As the BBC’s international charity, we are completely separate from BBC News, and wholly reliant on our donors and supporters to carry out our work.

Why USAID’s funding of BBC is more than a red flag: USAID’s controversial funding of BBC Media Action highlights how the Western government-funded propaganda machinery works and exposes double standards in global broadcasting https://trtafrika.com/insight/why-usaids-funding-of-bbc-is-more-than-a-red-flag-18267007 By Mazhun Idris - 20 Feb 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/CBj6W

Spinning public opinion is effectively done through cherry-picking facts, as by selective shaping of narratives, stripping contexts, framing debates, stoking outrage, manufacturing sentiment, silencing or censoring.

In the modern era of media weaponisation, misinformation doesn’t have to be about outright lies that malign.

Disinformation is as powerful a tool as biased emphasis or orchestrated repetition of selective facts or viewpoints.

As experts on international development point out, initiatives under the terms of aid or charity have long been used to obscure covert intelligence projects, all of which are aimed at manipulating targeted beneficiary communities towards predetermined objectives and conclusions.


Harassment of Journalists and Academics

John Pilger

The UK government covertly plotted to discredit John Pilger: The legendary foreign correspondent who has died at the age of 84 was monitored and targeted by a covert British propaganda unit, declassified files show https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-uk-government-covertly-plotted-to-discredit-john-pilger/ by John McEvoy - 8 January 2024

In 1975, the Foreign Office’s secret cold war propaganda unit, the Information Research Department (IRD), opened a file on Pilger. Though the IRD was shut down in 1977, Pilger’s file was transferred to its successor organisation, the Special Production Unit (SPU), and the Foreign Office continued to track his movements over the following years.

Richard Sakwa

British intel sought to silence West’s top Russia academic, leaks reveal https://thegrayzone.com/2025/04/01/british-intel-top-russia-academic-leaks/ by Kit Klarenberg - The Grayzone - April 1, 2025 - Archive: https://archive.ph/CipLa

Leaked emails reviewed by The Grayzone reveal a high-level British intelligence plot to smear and silence British political scientists such as Richard Sakwa, who is widely regarded as one of the English-speaking world’s foremost authorities on Russia.

In a March 2022 email entitled “Russians in our Universities,” British military intelligence officer and former senior NATO advisor Chris Donnelly accused Sakwa of being a Russian “fellow traveller” who’d been “gradually breaking cover,” insisting the professor was “far too well-informed about Russian strategy to be called just ‘a useful idiot.’” Another email reveals Donnelly fantasizing about publicly exposing the Sakwa for being “funded by Russian entities” – a claim the professor strenuously denies.

Kit Klarenberg

British police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg, interrogate him about The Grayzone https://thegrayzone.com/2023/05/30/journalist-kit-klarenberg-british-police-interrogated-grayzone/ by Max Blumenthal - The Grayzone - May 30, 2023 - Archive: https://archive.ph/enEWd

UK police detain journalist Kit Klarenberg over ‘political views’: The Cradle contributor was questioned for five hours by counter-terrorism police over his journalistic work and political opinions https://thecradle.co/articles-id/267 - The Cradle - May 31, 2023 - Archive: https://archive.ph/CK7Rx


Countries of Operation

Jordan

Docs reveal how British intelligence controls Jordan’s media: UK contractors sought to create a covert newsroom to strategically flood Jordan’s mainstream and social media with a stream of self-serving propaganda https://thecradle.co/articles/docs-reveal-how-british-intelligence-controls-jordans-media by Kit Klarenberg - The Cradle - Jun 5, 2023

These papers show that under the aegis of countering ISIS propaganda, London sought to install operatives within Jordan’s Strategic Communications Unit (JSU) – a Jordanian entity “composed of representatives from a variety of different GoJ departments and institutions, which of course includes the RHC (royal court), but also the Ministry of Information, Jordanian Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior and the Public Security Directorate.”

These operatives would create a dedicated “covert newsroom” to publish a relentless flow of “unattributable” multimedia content extolling “patriotic national narratives” and anti-extremist messaging. This output would then be amplified, whether wittingly or unwittingly, by local and regional news outlets.

British intelligence cutout Albany Associates submitted a detailed pitch for the half a million pound project, which London was keen to complete by the end of the 2016/17 financial year.

Palestine

The UK’s secret control of Palestinian security forces: Leaks reveal that the increasingly violent and repressive Palestinian Authority security forces have been trained by British government-affiliated contractors with US money https://thecradle.co/articles/the-uks-secret-control-of-palestinian-security-forces by Kit Klarenberg - The Cradle - May 11, 2023 - Archive https://archive.ph/uYWih

Other leaked files demonstrate that the training and services provided by Adam Smith International to the PA Security Forces are distinctly British in character.

A self-professed “highlight” of this support has been the establishment of a “Palestinian Officers Academy” styled on Sandhurst military school, where the British Army’s elite class are trained. Adam Smith International boasts that it drafted the “business case” for the Academy, cleared “design and development plans” with the Security Forces and Interior Ministry, and secured “a multi-million-pound budget” for its launch and operation.

Students at the Academy receive a nine-month-long “practical leadership curriculum” with “over 1,700 lesson plans” in English and Arabic, overseen by 12 international and 30 Palestinian staffers. Adam Smith International also advised the PA’s military training director “on how to strengthen the design and delivery of training” across the Security Forces, advising on “course design, delivery methodology, organizational structure, as well various training-related operational matters, such as resourcing, course coordination and management of training infrastructure.”

Somaliland

The Horn of Africa-The Cradle

Image source: The Cradle

Sights set on Somaliland: The threat of a total US–UK–Israeli takeover: As Tel Aviv and Washington quietly court Somaliland as a destination for Gaza’s displaced, this British-controlled enclave on the Red Sea emerges as both a strategic imperial launchpad and a potential open-air prison for Palestinians – armed, trained, and surveilled by London https://thecradle.co/articles/sights-set-on-somaliland-the-threat-of-a-total-us-uk-israeli-takeover by Kit Klarenberg - The Cradle - Apr 2, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/etNZM

UK - Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Somaliland (Somalia) Programme https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-GOV-3-CSSF-03-000012/summary

Private Military Companies (PMC)

Aktis

Expert Fallacy – The Implosion of Aktis Strategy and the Unmitigated Risk of Corrupt Foreigners in Somaliland https://somalilandchronicle.com/2019/04/23/expert-fallacy-the-implosion-of-aktis-strategy-and-the-unmitigated-risk-of-corrupt-foreigners-in-somaliland/ - Apr 23, 2023 - Archive https://archive.ph/rkNwM

Albany Associates

Albany Associates https://www.albanyassociates.com/ - Official site

Involved both in Somaliland and Jordan.

Adam Smith International (ASI)

Adam Smith International (ASI) https://adamsmithinternational.com/

Involved both in Somaliland and Palestine.

Group 4 Securitas (G4S)

Outsourcing war: British mercenaries now run America’s front lines: G4S’s mercenaries are everywhere – from the halls of American power to the darkest corners of detention centers https://www.rt.com/news/616326-outsourcing-war-british-mercenaries/ - RT - Apr 25, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/L6u2V

The British-American private military company Group 4 Securitas (G4S) has evolved far beyond its original mission of providing security for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Today, it resembles a quasi-state, complete with its own armed forces, prison systems, and global reach. G4S secures US embassies around the world, guards airports, government agencies, and military installations for both Washington and London, and even monitors sections of the US border.

Following the targeted killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, Iranian investigators accused G4S of providing intel to the Pentagon regarding his location prior to the drone strike. At the time, G4S was contracted to protect Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport.


Additional Resources and Notes

Bornovas Interview - Part 2 https://hellasjournal.com/2025/02/o-presvis-e-t-vasileios-bornovas-presvis-tis-elladas-sto-kievo-apokleistika-ki-ef-olis-tis-ylis-sti-hellas-journal-stin-triti-epeteio-tou-polemou-stin-oukrania-v-meros/ - Archive https://archive.ph/FE4Go

Very important interview in which a seasoned diplomat criticizes aspects of Greek foreign policy, and his account what is going on in Ukraine goes against the MSM narrative.

LLM: From the River to the River https://metagora.blogspot.com/2024/12/llm-from-river-to-river.html - Our modest effort to shed some light on the issue.


Started: Tue, May 6, 2025

About Metagora

Friday, April 18, 2025

Syria Update

New articles that will be added to our File: Syria in Transition https://metagora.blogspot.com/2025/01/file-syria-in-transition.html page:

Syrian Civil War map. This map cites https://syria.liveuamap.com/ Do not modify it without citing any sources.

Syrian Civil War map - Date unknown - Ermanarich, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Israel and Syria

Future of the IDF: Nagel Commission issues report on transforming military Its mandate did not include anything relating to probing the Oct. 7 failure, rather only a forward-looking view to preparing the IDF for the future https://www.jpost.com/author/yonah-jeremy-bob By Jonah Jeremy Bob - Jan 6, 2025

Potential of the Turkish Threat – Direct and Indirect – to Israel; A Situation Assessment https://israel-alma.org/potential-of-the-turkish-threat-direct-and-indirect-to-israel-a-situation-assessment/ Israeli researcher Yaakov Lappin takes a close look at Turkish missile and UAV tech and their geopolitical implications - Alma Research & Education Center - Feb 11, 2025

However, in recent years, a significant change has taken place in the regional environment: Turkey’s military capability – especially in the fields of missiles and UAVs – is on the rise. In parallel, a new horizon of influence, both direct and through proxies, has opened for Turkey in Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime and the removal of the Iranian – Shiite rival axis from Syria.

Former head of Israeli military intelligence welcomes ‘chaos’ in Syria: Tamir Hayman said infighting between Syrian factions was beneficial, but added Israel must remain silent on the matter https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/former-head-israeli-military-intelligence-welcomes-chaos-syria By Mera Aladam - Middle East Eye - 13 March 2025

David’s Corridor

The battle between ‘Greater Israel’ and “Neo-Ottomanism” in Syria: As Israel escalates its warnings about Turkiye’s hegemonic ambitions and military influence in Syria, a once-strategic partnership is unraveling into a deep rivalry that could reshape the region https://thecradle.co/articles/the-battle-between-greater-israel-and-neo-ottomanism-in-syria by Mohamad Hasan Sweidan - The Cradle - Mar 20, 2025

David’s Corridor: Israel’s shadow project to redraw the Levant - Through ‘David’s Corridor,’ Israel aims to forge a geopolitical artery stretching from occupied Golan to Iraqi Kurdistan, reshaping West Asia under the guise of fostering minority alliances and realizing biblical claims https://thecradle.co/articles/davids-corridor-israels-shadow-project-to-redraw-the-levant by Mahdi Yaghi - The Cradle - Apr 4, 2025

Russia and Syria

The President of Russia sent a message to Head of the Syrian State Ahmed al-Sharaa http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/76489 - Mar 20, 2025

Vladimir Putin sent a message to Head of the Syrian State Ahmed al-Sharaa, expressing support for the efforts made to stabilise the situation in the country as soon as possible in the name of ensuring its sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity

The President reiterated Russia’s continued willingness to develop practical cooperation with the Syrian authorities across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations in order to further strengthen the traditionally friendly ties between Russia and Syria.