MARIÂNGELA BERQUÓ enfoca a Geopolítica: Qatar whistlebowing on Syria and Weinsteingate

As the war in Syria continues slowly winding down, it seems new source material comes out on an almost a weekly basis in the form of testimonials of top officials involved in destabilizing Syria, and even occasional leaked emails and documents which further detail covert regime change operations against the Assad government. Though much of this content serves to confirm what has already long been known by those who have never accepted the simplistic propaganda which has dominated mainstream media, details continue to fall in place, providing future historians with a clearer picture of the true nature of the war.

This process of clarity has been aided - as predicted - by the continued infighting among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) former allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with each side accusing the other of funding Islamic State and al-Qaeda terrorists (ironically, both true). Increasingly, the world watches as more dirty laundry is aired and the GCC implodes after years of nearly all the gulf monarchies funding jihadist movements in places like Syria, Iraq, and Libya.

The top Qatari official is no less than former Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, who oversaw Syria operations on behalf of Qatar until 2013 (also as foreign minister) and is seen above with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in this Jan. 2010 photo (as a reminder, Qatar's 2022 World Cup Committee donated $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation in 2014).

In an interview with Qatari TV a few days ago, bin Jaber al-Thani revealed that his country, alongside Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United States, began shipping weapons to jihadists from the very moment events "first started" (in 2011).

Al-Thani even likened the covert operation to "hunting prey" - the prey being President Assad and his supporters - "prey" which he admits got away (as Assad is still in power; he used a Gulf Arabic dialect word, "al-sayda", which implies hunting animals or prey for sport). Though Thani denied credible allegations of support for ISIS, the former prime minister's words implied direct Gulf and US support for al-Qaeda in Syria (al-Nusra Front) from the earliest years of the war, and even said Qatar has "full documents" and records proving that the war was planned to effect regime change.

According to Zero Hedge's translation, al-Thani said while acknowledging Gulf nations were arming jihadists in Syria with the approval and support of US and Turkey: "I don't want to go into details but we have full documents about us taking charge [in Syria]." He claimed that both Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (who reigned until his death in 2015) and the United States placed Qatar in a lead role concerning covert operations to execute the proxy war.

The former prime minister's comments, while very revealing, were intended as a defense and excuse of Qatar's support for terrorism, and as a critique of the US and Saudi Arabia for essentially leaving Qatar "holding the bag" in terms of the war against Assad. Al-Thani explained that Qatar continued its financing of armed insurgents in Syria while other countries eventually wound down large-scale support, which is why he lashed out at the US and the Saudis, who initially "were with us in the same trench."

In a previous US television interview which was vastly underreported, al-Thani told Charlie Rose when asked about allegations of Qatar's support for terrorism that, "in Syria, everybody did mistakes, including your country." And said that when the war began in Syria, "all of use worked through two operation rooms: one in Jordan and one in Turkey."

Below is the key section of Wednesday's interview, translated and subtitled by @Walid970721. Zero Hedge has reviewed and confirmed the translation, however, as the original rush translator has acknowledged, al-Thani doesn't say "lady" but "prey" ["al-sayda"]- as in both Assad and Syrians were being hunted by the outside countries.

"When the events first started in Syria I went to Saudi Arabia and met with King Abdullah. I did that on the instructions of his highness the prince, my father. He [Abdullah] said we are behind you. You go ahead with this plan and we will coordinate but you should be in charge. I won’t get into details but we have full documents and anything that was sent [to Syria] would go to Turkey and was in coordination with the US forces and everything was distributed via the Turks and the US forces. And us and everyone else was involved, the military people. There may have been mistakes and support was given to the wrong faction... Maybe there was a relationship with Nusra, its possible but I myself don’t know about this… we were fighting over the prey ["al-sayda"] and now the prey is gone and we are still fighting... and now Bashar is still there. You [US and Saudi Arabia] were with us in the same trench... I have no objection to one changing if he finds that he was wrong, but at least inform your partner… for example leave Bashar [al-Assad] or do this or that, but the situation that has been created now will never allow any progress in the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council], or any progress on anything if we continue to openly fight."

As is now well-known, the CIA was directly involved in leading regime change efforts in Syria with allied gulf partners, as leaked and declassified US intelligence memos confirm. The US government understood in real time that Gulf and West-supplied advanced weaponry was going to al-Qaeda and ISIS, despite official claims of arming so-called "moderate" rebels. For example, a leaked 2014 intelligence memo sent to Hillary Clinton acknowledged Qatari and Saudi support for ISIS.

The email stated in direct and unambiguous language that:

"the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region."

Furthermore, one day before Prime Minister Thani's interview, The Intercept released a new top-secret NSA document unearthed from leaked intelligence files provided by Edward Snowden which show in stunning clarity that the armed opposition in Syria was under the direct command of foreign governments from the early years of the war which has now claimed half a million lives.

The newly released NSA document confirms that a 2013 insurgent attack with advanced surface-to-surface rockets upon civilian areas of Damascus, including Damascus International Airport, was directly supplied and commanded by Saudi Arabia with full prior awareness of US intelligence. As the former Qatari prime minister now also confirms, both the Saudis and US government staffed "operations rooms" overseeing such heinous attacks during the time period of the 2013 Damascus airport attack.

No doubt there remains a massive trove of damning documentary evidence which will continue to trickle out in the coming months and years. At the very least, the continuing Qatari-Saudi diplomatic war will bear more fruit as each side builds a case against the other with charges of supporting terrorism. And as we can see from this latest Qatari TV interview, the United States itself will not be spared in this new open season of airing dirty laundry as old accidental allies turn on each other.
For the sake of clarity, that is the best part of the evil game of hasbara.

The report in the New Yorker a couple of weeks ago that Harvey Weinstein employed an “army of spies” in an effort to suppress publication of accusers’ accounts of sexual attacks is rocketing ’round the world. The fact that some of these agents were Israelis was in the New Yorker lead and other American and British medias feature that angle too.
Among the private security agencies hired by Weinstein starting around autumn 2016 was Black Cube, which is largely run by former officers of Israeli intelligence agencies, including Mossad. The publicity is the opposite of those natural disaster stories in which Israel sends out teams of doctors and disaster pros to find earthquake victims or heal children — this time Israeli professionals are helping an alleged sexual predator in his efforts to stifle journalists. Their chief method, per the New Yorker, was impersonating friendly sources in an effort to learn what the reporters and accusers were saying about Weinstein.
Former prime minister Ehud Barak put the now-disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in touch with an Israeli firm comprised mostly of ex-Mossad agents, which Weinstein hired to suppress news stories detailing allegations of sexual harassment and assault against dozens of women. Barak admitted to putting the producer in touch with agency, but said he did not know why Weinstein was interested in its services. The Clintons, who were very close to Weinstein too washed their hands of him when the scandal began a month ago. Black Cube worked for Weinstein for a year despite a dubious track record. This is a far cry from the derring-do with which Mossad is usually associated: killing Palestinian leaders in their beds in Persian Gulf hotels or hunting them down on foreign countries Streets.

Weinstein with Zionist friends:

Bernard Henry Levy & Ron Agam

The work they have been doing is a lot closer to the information wars that Israel is now engaged in, fighting boycott campaigns on campuses and seeking to smear advocates for Palestinian human rights. The Weinstein effect drags in Israel because Black Cube advertises these kinds of services for “high net-worth individuals”– protecting them from the “challenges” of “reputational management and political persecution.” Though his politics have not been an element of the ongoing case, Harvey Weinstein is a great supporter of Israel. At a gala in September for the Jewish newspaper Algemeiner, two weeks before the scandal broke, he promoted a movie he was producing about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Mila 18, and said it was about the birth of Israel. He said, “I’m an Israeli in my heart and mind.”
Given his devastating behaviour, he couldn't say better.

Real News: Weinstein and Black Cube

Israel has been directly or indirectly involved in most conflicts in the world. Always on the bad side. For instance, weapons are being sold to Myanmar despite the restrictions on weapons sales to that country. Only last month Israel refused to announce that it would stop selling weapons to Myanmar despite the UN declaration about ethnic cleansing. The Rohingya minority is now considered the most persecuted people in the world.

Israel and Myanmar in recent years have signed a memorandum of understanding clarifying the bilateral cooperation and transfer of relevant information and intelligence. According to official reports in Myanmar, the agreement includes military training and improving security cooperation between the two countries, including the sale of two Israeli Super Dvora III boats.
The total value of the arms deal, according to sources in the Israeli weapons industry, is estimated at tens of millions of dollars.

Black Cube, the firm involved in Weinstein case, is private, but as it is Israeli and composed of former intelligence agents, it's hard to believe that it is not used for spying.

The company was founded in 2011 by Dan Zorella, originally from Haifa, who served in an elite unit in the IDF Military Intelligence and Dr. Avi Yanus - both in their early thirties. The two met when they studied for their BA in management and economics at the Technion. Zorella continued to graduate studies in Business Administration at Tel Aviv University, while Yanus completed his doctorate; He currently lives in London and handles the investigations in Europe. Based on his background in IDF intelligence, among other things, Zorella managed to attract some big names to the firms, especially the late Meir Dagan. Pundits note that “giving your name to a company for a fee” is entirely conventional behavior, but sources close to Black Cube claim that “the late Meir Dagan was involved in Black Cube’s business and advised the firm since its founding. He advised Black Cube on complex issues that required his extensive specialization; he met with Black Cube clients who benefited from his vast experience. The late Meir Dagan also gave Black Cube the benefit of his worldwide connections. Later, after he became familiar with all aspects of the firm’s operations and in view of the firm’s high standards of professionalism, Meir Dagan became the firm’s honorary president.”

Black Cube’s first significant client was the Jewish-British billionaire Vincent Tchenguiz, who learned of the firm through a mutual acquaintance. Tchenguiz recounted the story in an interview to G’s Shachar Samooha last October. According to Tchenguiz, dozens of investigators from the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) raided his house and his brother Robert's house in March 2011 and arrested them on suspicion of a complex deception that led to the collapse of Iceland's Kaupthing Bank. Both brothers were released the same day and immediately claimed that the information that led to their arrest was untrue. They hired the services of Black Cube and managed to prove their case. Subsequently, Robert also sued the SFO, Kaupthing, and the Grant Thornton accounting firm, whose materials were used as the foundation for the charges. He reached a settlement with the SFO, in which he received an apology and £3 million.
The work that Black Cube carried out for Tchenguiz gave the firm exposure in the global business market, and cases began to flow. The next case that shone a spotlight on the firm was their work (jointly with forensic auditor CPA Yehuda Barlev) for Nochi Dankner, who had lost control of IDB and sought information about Motti Ben Moshe who had seized control of the IDB Group together with Eduardo Elsztain.
An affidavit submitted to the court by Yanus in this case reveals several more aspects of the firm’s modus operandi and its profile: Yanus describes how “Black Cube is based on a group of former Israeli intelligence agents, skilled intelligence professionals with backgrounds in finance and law. Over 50 investigators work for the firm [since then, Black Cube states that the number has risen to 100], including attorneys, economists, and financial professionals, who blend intelligence work and business experience. The firm also has a staff of experienced advisors who are highly experienced in business, law, banking, the academic world, and technology, and who consult on the projects that the firm is involved in - some are international experts in the financial markets and risk management, and others are former members of the Israeli intelligence community.”
Yanus continued, “The firm provides services to a small circle of high-quality clients,“ and here comes a rather important sentence: “Since it has no competitors with comparable abilities, the firm was certified as the exclusive supplier to major organizations and government ministries.” Black Cube refuses to comment on the above, but pundits say that the company has performed work for the Mossad from time to time but "no longer does so today". Really?
According to sources involved in Black Cube’s operations, their most common method is sending employees to pose as representatives of foreign businesses, and to make it seem credible, they also describe fictitious companies. These sources claim that these agents will frequently prefer to conduct meetings abroad, where they are not restricted in their operations (in contrast to Israel, where you cannot impersonate another person without a private investigator’s license; According to the Ministry of Justice, Black Cube does not hold such a license). Black Cube stresses that the firm operates in compliance with all the rules and laws in each country. In response to publications, Black Cube then stated to the press and news agencies: “Black Cube is an international elite group of more than 100 former Israeli intelligence agents, which operates in many places around the world, and is supported by professional legal consultants in each country in which it operates. In recent weeks, the firm conducted a project for government officials in Romania to gather evidence on serious corruption in Romanian government systems. In this project, two of the firm’s employees, who made significant achievements, were arrested. “That was an incident that didn’t do them any good,” admits a source familiar with the firm, “but don’t Mossad agents ever get caught in the middle of an operation overseas? It happens.”
Black Cube’s name was also recently linked to a case that is now being heard in the Supreme Court - in an appeal filed by Afcon, an Israeli company, and Alstom, a French company, which bid jointly in the light rail electrification tender, against the results that awarded the tender to Semi, a Zionist Spanish company (represented by Advs. Dror Harpaz and Eyal Oren).
Back Cube clients are mainly, if not only, Zionists.