Alois Brunner, the Nazi war criminal at home in Assad's Syria

The regime of Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad managed to stay in power for five decades by exercising brutally repressive methods inspired in part by Alois Brunner, a notorious Nazi war criminal who made a life for himself in Damascus as a confidant of the Assad clan.

Issued on: 12/12/2024 -

By: Grégoire SAUVAGE

SS officer Alois Brunner, Adolf Eichmann's right-hand man, in an undated photo. 

© Archives AFP

The release of thousands of people imprisoned in Syrian jails has brought into focus the abuses committed by the Assads during their almost five decades in power. Their regime of terror was established in the 1970s at the start of Hafez al-Assad's reign, which made use of the experience of Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner – once the right-hand man of Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Final Solution during World War II.

A 2017 investigative report by France’s Revue XXI magazine traced the links between the Syrian regime and Brunner, accused of having sent 128,500 Jews to extermination camps.

Brunner was in charge of the Drancy internment camp outside Paris from 1943 to 1944 and was responsible for the deportation of 24,000 French Jews – or Jews residing in France – to Nazi death camps. He was convicted in absentia by a French court in 1954 for crimes against humanity and sentenced to death.

But by the early 1950s, Brunner is thought to have fled to Egypt and then to Syria, where he was known as Georg Fischer and worked as an arms dealer in Damascus.


Syria had already provided refuge to Franz Stangl, former commandant of the Sobibor and Treblinka extermination camps.

From Damascus, Brunner plotted – with Syrian support – to free his former superior, Eichmann, who had been captured by Israel’s spy agency Mossad in Argentina in 1960 before being tried in Israel and hanged.

Despite the Syrian authorities' denials, Brunner’s presence in Syria was an open secret in the early 1960s. He was the target of at least two assassination attempts; in 1961, he lost his left eye after opening a letter bomb. Almost 20 years later, another letter bomb tore off several of his fingers.

Read moreMost-wanted Nazi war criminal ‘died in Syria’
Adviser to the Syrian secret services

Despite international pressure to extradite him, Brunner remained a protégé of successive regimes in Damascus in the years before the 1963 coup d'état carried out by leaders of the Syrian Ba'athist party.

By 1966, Brunner had managed to gain a powerful ally, Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad.

Brunner became a confidant of the elder Assad, who had just been appointed defence minister. When Assad seized power in a 1970 coup, Brunner helped the new regime set up an effective system of repression, inspired by the practices of the Third Reich.

"Complex, divided into numerous branches which all monitor and spy on each other, operating on the basis of absolute compartmentalisation, this apparatus is built on one principle: to hold the country by the use of unlimited terror,” write the authors of Revue XXI's investigation, Hedi Aouidj and Mathieu Palain.

The authors of the Revue XXI investigation, Hedi Aouidj and Mathieu Palain, describe the state apparatus of the time as "complex, divided into numerous branches that all monitor and spy on each other, operating on the basis of absolute compartmentalisation, this apparatus is built on one principle: to hold the country by the use of unlimited terror”.

During his new life in Syria, Brunner shared his expertise in surveillance, interrogation and torture techniques, drawing on his experience with the Gestapo.

The brutal methods he taught the Syrian secret services were to have a lasting influence on the way the regime repressed political dissent.

One of the means of torture used by the Syrians, drawing on Brunner's expertise, was the “German Chair”, a medieval-style rack used to stretch the victim’s spine.
Unknown burial site and date of death

Brunner was convicted a second time by a French court in absentia in 2001 for sending an estimated 345 Jewish children from the Drancy internment camp to their deaths in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.

Requests to have Brunner extradited by Germany and several other countries were always refused by the Syrian authorities.

Although Brunner was never handed over to be tried, he gradually lost influence with the authorities until he became a mere bargaining chip for the Syrian regime. Careful to promote his image as a moderniser, Bashar al-Assad, who came to power in 2000, eventually abandoned his father's former Nazi adviser.

According to Revue XXI's investigation, Brunner ended his life in dismal circumstances, confined by the Syrian state to the basement of a residential building in Damascus. There were reports that he died in 2001 and was buried in the Al-Affif cemetery in Damascus.

In 2014, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which tracks down Nazi war criminals, announced that it was taking Brunner off its list of the most wanted Holocaust perpetrators. Its then director, Efraim Zuroff, said that the former SS officer had died four years earlier.

"I am almost certain that he (Alois Brunner) is no longer alive,” Zuroff told AFP, adding that he believed Brunner died four years earlier in Damascus, where he had sought refuge. Zuroff said information from a former agent of the German intelligence services indicated that Brunner had died and the Centre had decided to remove him from its active search list of Nazi war criminals and their collaborators.

Brunner remained an unrepentant Nazi until the end of his life. In one of the rare interviews he gave from Damascus, he told the Chicago Sun-Times in 1987 that the Jews “deserved to die because they were the devil's agents and human garbage”.

“I have no regrets and would do it again.”

This article was translated from the original in French.

Syria's secret services tactics echo Nazis, Stasi methods

Kersten Knipp

DW

14/12/2024

As more is revealed about the notorious Saydnaya Prison, it appears the tactics of the former Assad dictatorship were shaped by Nazi war criminals who fled abroad after World War II, as well as the East German Stasi.

Crowds of people have descended on Saydnaya Prison near Damascus, hoping to find their loved ones

Image: Asaad al-Asaad/UPI Photo/picture alliance


Horrific images have been circulating online since the liberation of Saydnaya Prison in Syria, five floors of which were hidden underground.

The images show gaunt, emaciated people, some standing in packed, overcrowded cells. Many prisoners had to be carried out of the building. The liberators also filmed a room where people were huddled in the semidarkness, screaming. Numerous bodies were found with signs of having been tortured to death. Thousands of prisoners were being held in the complex on the day it was liberated, according to media reports.

As many as 15,000 people were extrajudicially executed in the prison between September 2011 and December 2015 alone, according to the human rights organization Amnesty International.

Some people on social media see a direct link to the Nazis, in particular, Alois Brunner, a commanding officer in the Nazi paramilitary SS who fled to Syria in 1954. Brunner was a close associate of Adolf Eichmann, who, as one of the architects of the so-called "Final Solution," was partly responsible for the persecution, expulsion, deportation and murder of millions of Jews.

Former Nazis 'valued for their practical experience'

Brunner was not the only former SS or Wehrmacht member in Syria, as Noura Chalati from the Leibniz Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin research institution explained.

"Many of them were employed directly by the Syrian general staff on one-year contracts, advising the army and the military intelligence service," she said.

Documents show that the general staff was particularly interested in these people because, at the time, they were stateless, from a country that supposedly had no colonial history — and, of course, because of their experience in war, including with methods of mass extermination.

"They were valued for their practical experience," said Chalati, whose research focuses on the relationship between the former East German state security service (Stasi) and Syria's secret services.

Rebels opened the cells in the infamous Saydnaya Prison, known as the 'human slaughterhouse,' on December 8Image: Hussein Malla/AP Photo/picture alliance

Brunner, who was sentenced in absentia to death for crimes against humanity in France in 1954, arrived in Syria shortly afterward under a false identity. In his book "Fugitives," about Nazi war criminals who fled abroad, Israeli historian Danny Orbach wrote that Brunner soon got involved in the smuggling of Western arms to Arab countries.

In 1959, the then-head of one of Syria's secret services had Brunner arrested on suspicion of spying and threatened him with life imprisonment, whereupon Brunner revealed his true identity and offered his services to Syrian intelligence.

Portraits of some of those said to have died in the Hama massacre in 1982, perpetrated by the Syrian regimeImage: REPRODUCTION JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images

Over the years that followed, Brunner trained intelligence personnel in counterespionage and interrogation techniques. Many infamous Syrian secret servicemen took part in his training courses, including General Ali Haydar, who led the Syrian special forces for 26 years, Ali Douba, head of military intelligence, and Mustafa Tlass, subsequently defense minister for the Assad regime, who was responsible for brutally suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood-led uprising in Hama in 1982, in which as many as 30,000 people were killed.

Brunner 'knew exactly how to extract and use information'

One of the instruments of torture used until just recently by the Assad regime was known as the "German chair," an instrument which stretched victims until their spine broke. It has often been suggested that the chair was Brunner's invention.

Orbach considers this theory plausible, albeit unproven. He writes that Brunner helped to create gruesome instruments of torture, and the "German chair" may have been one.

Brunner proved useful to Syrian dictator Hafez Assad, who seized power in 1970 and was the father of Bashar Assad. "He knew exactly how to extract and use information, how to manipulate people, what is important for the activities of secret services," wrote Brunner's biographer, Didier Epelbaum. "He knew more than any Syrian officer. As a result, he was involved in restructuring the secret service."

Convicted Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner fled to Syria in 1954, where he lived until his death in around 2002

Image: picture-alliance / dpa

Investigative journalist Hedi Aouidj told the radio station France Inter in 2017 that this knowledge enabled Brunner to maintain his position with the Syrian political elite.

"The deal was protection. In exchange for Nazi know-how. Brunner trained the Nazi secret service, the circle closest to Hafez al-Assad," explained Aouidj, who was able to shed light on Brunner's final years. He said Brunner was ultimately thrown in prison by the Assad regime in 1996, where he remained until his death, thought to have been in 2002.

Assistance from the Stasi

But the Syrian leadership didn't rely solely on fugitive Nazis for help. It also accepted support from the former the state security service of the East Germany — the Stasi.

This made political sense, according to the logic of the Cold War. Although Syria was non-aligned in the 1960s, under the Baath regime, it increasingly aligned itself with Europe's Eastern Bloc.

After Bashar Assad's ouster, Syrians toppled statues of his father, Hafez Assad, and burned his tombImage: Hussein Malla/AP/dpa/picture alliance

Noura Chalati said contact was initially established following a request from Syria in 1966. Damascus was interested in everything from weapons technology to the structure and organization of intelligence services and political institutions.

"However, the ministry for state security [Stasi] was very reticent," according to Chalati. As she pointed out, it's difficult to obtain documentary evidence of their collaboration, as the Stasi destroyed all the relevant files when it was dissolved in 1989.

'Worst of both worlds'

In fact, Chalati said it's difficult to prove conclusively that either Nazis or the Stasi directly influenced the Syrian secret services. "The overall picture, though, fits pretty well with what we are currently seeing in Syria," she said.

Files currently being unearthed show that the Syrian intelligence service was characterized by excessive bureaucracy. "This is a phenomenon we're familiar with from the GDR and the Stasi," said Chalati. "I can't claim that there's a direct, causal connection, but it's a striking phenomenon. Perhaps it's also a characteristic of secret services generally; more research on this is needed."

Syrian detainees: Justice finally served after 14 years  06:11

At the same time, the Syrian secret service was an instrument of suppression and torture by the regime, committing the most serious of human rights violations. This approach, Chalati said, resembles that of the Nazis and the Gestapo more than that of the Stasi.

"Essentially, we are looking at a regime and a secret service complex that combines the worst of both worlds," she said.

This article was originally written in German.

Kersten Knipp Political editor with a focus on the Middle East

Fears mount for Syria’s minorities as video emerges showing rebel fighters executing suspects

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has become Syria’s new strongman, replacing the Alawite regime of Bashar al-Assad. Once a partner of al Qaeda, Jolani now speaks the language of tolerance towards Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities and told his fighters to refrain from extrajudicial violence. Videos emerging on social media, including one apparently showing the execution of four suspected regime collaborators, suggest that not all of his fighters are following his directive.

Issued on: 13/12/2024 - 
Videos are emerging in Syria that appear to show fighters from rebel groups committing human rights violations against suspected collaborators of the Asssad regime, fuelling fear among minority groups such as Shia, Kurds and Christians. © Observers
By:Observers team

While other factions still control significant parts of Syria – including the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), HTS’s ally in the latest offensive, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – HTS has achieved a stunningly rapid military victory. In just ten days, the Islamist group toppled the Assad regime and seized control of most of Syria’s major cities.

This sudden consolidation of power has sparked widespread alarm, particularly among Syria’s minority communities. The country’s mosaic of ethnic and religious groups – including Shia Alawites, Christians, and Kurds – now finds itself under the rule of a group with a deeply controversial history. HTS, which remains on the terror lists of the United States and the European Union, has also provided shelter to international jihadists from Afghanistan, Chechnya, and France. For many minorities, the notion of such a group ruling from Damascus evokes fear and uncertainty about what lies ahead.

Since its creation in 2017, HTS has attempted to rebrand itself as a more moderate force, demonstrating a degree of tolerance towards certain minorities, particularly Christians, in the areas it controls, compared with the al Qaeda-linked group it emerged from. Since assuming power in Damascus and much of Syria this month, the group has generally shown restraint in its treatment of Christian and Shiite Alawite monuments and communities.

In official announcements and meetings with local minority leaders, HTS has repeatedly pledged to safeguard the safety of Christians and Alawites. Jolani told CNN on December 5: “These sects have coexisted in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them.”

But reports and videos on Syrian social media show that reprisal killings have begun, casting doubt on HTS’s promises of protection. Members of the Alawite community appear to be the primary target. Despite representing only 10 percent of Syria’s population, Alawites dominated the country’s power structures for more than four decades under the Assad regime. Their close ties to Iran’s Shia regime – an unwavering backer of Bashar al-Assad – have further entrenched their vulnerability under HTS rule.
Video shows execution of suspected regime 'Shabiha'

On December 10 a video emerged on Telegram documenting the execution of four men by HTS fighters. The video opens with two bodies visible, one man on his back, another man face down with his hands apparently bound. A voice is heard saying: “There they are, Shabiha pigs,” a reference to the Shabiha, pro-regime militias known for beating and killing political opponents of the Assad clan. Two men are visible on their knees. As one of the fighters asks their name, others are heard calling them “Nusayriyah”, an anti-Alawite slur, and “Allahu akbar.” Two of the fighters, one wearing the black Seal of Muhammad flag popular among Islamist groups, then open fire and kill the two men with bursts from their Kalashnikovs, as a third says: “Two pigs killed in the village of Rabia.” (There are at least two villages in Syria called Rabia, one in Latakia governorate, the other in Hama governorate. There were conflicting reports about which village was the site of the killing.)

A 34-second video emerged on social media on December 10, 2024 showing rebel fighters executing suspected regime militia members in a Syrian village named Rabia. © Observers

FRANCE 24’s specialist on Islamist groups, Wassim Nasr, said the video was the first documented case of a summary execution by HTS fighters since the offensive began on November 27.

Other videos appearing to show reprisal attacks against suspected regime collaborators have also emerged. Two videos filmed in Idlib and posted on December 10 show a body being dragged behind a car as a crowd applauds. The caption includes an apparent plea to the HTS leadership: “We demand the establishment of a state with a justice system. Shabiha thugs should be punished by the rule of law, not by actions like this. There is no difference between you and the Assad regime.”

Videos emerged on social media December 10, 2024 showing the body of a man being dragged behind a car. The captions indicated that the victim was a suspected regime collaborator. The France 24 Observers team geolocated the video 50m east of Idilib’s Al-Mashtal Park but could not confirm the circumstances. © Observers

Videos like this are adding to the fears of Syrian citizens about their future under HTS. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Syrians from the Alawite, Sunni and Christian communities.
'My family is terrified, they fled to the mountains'

Ali (not his real name), an Alawite Shiite who now lives outside Syria, remains in close contact with his family near Homs. Their lives, he says, have been upended by fear.


The HTS members came to our village and guaranteed the safety of the Alawites, But my family is terrified and cannot trust them. They fled to the mountains to wait and see what happens next.

While HTS fighters have instructed locals to surrender their weapons, few are willing to comply. This reluctance is compounded by videos circulating on social media that appear to show arbitrary executions carried out by HTS members. They kill Shiites after accusing them of being soldiers or informants for the former regime.
'Alawites are anxious about what comes next'

Mounir (not his real name), a young Sunni Syrian from Tartus – a former stronghold of the Assad regime – is optimistic about Syria’s future under the new Islamist government. “Everyone here is happy that the new government has ensured the safety of everyone,” he says confidently. However, even he admits that “the situation for the Alawites is unique".

The Alawites who held government positions or served in the military, along with their families, are frankly panicking.

They are afraid of reprisals or losing properties they may have acquired illegally during the Assad era. Most of them are staying at home and, as far as I can see, avoiding public places, even though many of them have already pledged allegiance to the new government.

Those Alawites are just as happy as the rest of us. Many of my Alawite friends have been hoping for Assad’s fall since 2011, just like we all were. When it finally happened, they celebrated in the streets of Tartus with everyone else.

Still, Mounir acknowledges the deep uncertainty gripping the Alawite community as a whole. “Even those who celebrated are anxious about what comes next.”
Christians feel safer, but uncertain

While many members of Syria’s Shia minority remain fearful and uncertain about the future under HTS rule, the country’s Christian communities appear to feel relatively safer – for now.

Sami (not his real name), a Christian originally from Homs who now lives abroad, describes how his family’s initial fears have subsided. “At first, my family was afraid of the jihadists, but not anymore,” he explains.


The rebels approached our Christian villages and towns with a deliberate effort to reassure the population. They first met with the priests and guaranteed the safety of the Christians. Then they rang the church bells and told people there was nothing to fear. In some regions, they even brought bread and entered the villages mostly unarmed. All my family members who fled our village on 6 December had returned to their homes by December 9.

Over the long term, they are still worried about the possible introduction of Sharia law.
'I am a little afraid they might impose hijab on us'

The uncertainty of Syria’s future under HTS rule is unsettling for many, including Haifa (not her real name), a young Sunni woman from Tartus. While she acknowledges the brutality of Assad’s regime, she fears the potential imposition of Sharia law and its consequences for her personal freedom.

It’s hard to believe that there could be anything worse than Assad’s regime. So far, everything is fine, but we must wait and see what the new government will insist on. What will the laws be? These are things we do not know yet.

So far, they haven’t imposed any Islamic rules on us, but I am a little afraid that they might impose the hijab on us. But compared to the rape of women under the Assad regime, that’s nothing.

Uncertain leadership, uncertain future

Broderick McDonald, an expert on jihadist groups in Syria, believes that Jolani faces significant challenges as he attempts to consolidate power.

On the one hand, Jolani must maintain good relations with his foot soldiers, including the more extremist elements within his ranks. On the other hand, he needs to present himself as a legitimate leader capable of fostering consensus and governing effectively.

There are factions within HTS – some more radical, some less. If Jolani pursues a localised, deradicalised strategy, there’s no guarantee that these factions will hold together. And, of course, there is no guarantee that Jolani himself won’t return to his jihadist origins once he has cemented power.

Fighter jets, tanks and more: Syrian army’s retreat from Aleppo is a windfall for rebels

It took just 72 hours for the Syrian army and its Russian- and Iran-backed allies to lose all the territory they had “liberated” from Islamist rebel groups in Aleppo province in five years of bloody fighting between 2014 and 2019. The regime forces left behind an unprecedented stockpile of weapons and ammunition, including jets, missiles, and tanks. In Iran – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s most important ally – criticism has mounted, with some observers deriding the Syrian army as being “not even good enough for a military parade”.


Issued on: 03/12/2024 - 

The Syrian regime forces left behind an unprecedented stockpile of weapons and ammunition including jets, missiles, and tanks. © Observers

By:Alijani Ershad

The coordinated attacks, led by the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), began on November 27. Almost immediately, videos of fleeing soldiers flooded social media – filmed not only by opposition fighters but by Syrian soldiers themselves. Footage emerged of military convoys racing along the M5 motorway leading south to the capital Damascus, abandoning their positions as the front line collapsed.

This video posted by a blogger close to Syria’s HTS rebel group on November 27, 2024, shows a Russian-made tank. The caption says it was captured by HTS soldiers in western Aleppo “from the criminal regime.”

This video posted on Telegram November 30, 2024 by an Iranian military blogger shows Syrian army vehicles heading south from Aleppo during an attack on the province by Islamist rebels. In the caption, the blogger makes fun of the Syrian army's retreat: “Drag race of the Syrian army's armoured vehicles.”

In this video posted on Telegram November 30, 2024, Syrian rebels show the capture of Czech-made L-39 Albatros warplanes after they took control of Aleppo from the Syrian army.

'Over the last decade, this army’s leadership has failed'

"Tankograd" is an Iranian military blogger who has closely followed the war in Syria and Iran’s interventions in the country over the past decade. Like other analysts in Iran, he followed social media traffic in recent weeks indicating the possibility of preparations for a major offensive by rebel groups in northern Syria.


The first failure here is the intelligence service of Assad’s army. Even we, as observers watching opposition groups on social media, could see that something big was happening –but they didn’t.

The second issue is the lack of professional and well-trained soldiers in the ranks of Assad’s army. The backbone of this force consists of conscripts, most of whom are opposed to his regime. The rest are poorly paid – sometimes going months without salaries – leaving them in brutal poverty.

This photograph posted on Telegram on December 2, 2024 shows a Russian-made T90-A tank captured by Syrian rebels in Aleppo province. The T90-A is the most modern armoured vehicle used by the Syrian army. © .

The third issue is the inefficient chain of command. Over the last decade, this army’s leadership has failed to implement basic defensive measures, such as digging trenches or fortifying positions to slow potential enemy advances. And the soldiers themselves have never been trained for such scenarios.

The video posted on Telegram on November 28, 2024 shows Syrian army soldiers fleeing the battlefield in Aleppo.


This army was caught entirely off-guard by the attack. While any military can face a surprise assault, the ability to hold defensive lines depends on pre-built fortifications, proper training, and the soldiers’ willingness to stand their ground – not to mention reliable equipment. Assad’s army lacks all of these. It never had them, and the situation has only worsened in the last ten years. Thousands of semi-trained soldiers have been killed, and there is no budget to modernise the army. At this point, these troops aren’t even fit for a military parade.

This photo, posted by a blogger close to Syria’s HTS rebel group on December 2, 2024, shows handguns captured by rebels forces after the retreast of the Syrian army from Aleppo.

According to observers on the ground and experts, armed militias were able to seize the city of Aleppo with minimal resistance. The rest of the province – largely controlled by various militias aligned with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – fell with similarly little opposition. The IRGC-aligned forces include Lebanese Hezbollah, the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade and the Pakistani Zeynabioun.

“Tankograd”, the Iranian military blogger, explains:


For positions held by others, such as the Russians, and IRGC-linked groups like Hezbollah of Lebanon or IRGC-affiliated Afghan and Pakistani fighters, the situation was somewhat different. When the Syrian army fled, these groups had no chance – neither in terms of numbers nor defensive preparations – to stop or even slow the advance of the armed opposition forces. So they too were forced to retreat.
Among the military equipment the Syrian rebels claimed to have captured in Aleppo is a Russian air defence missile system known as Pantsir, seen here in a photograph posted on social media on December 1, 2024. © .

Each garrison, airport, and village abandoned by Assad’s forces and their allies left behind significant amounts of military hardware. Videos have surfaced online showing unprecedented quantities and types of weapons and ammunition captured by opposition forces. These include advanced weaponry that was not destroyed during the retreat and now lies in the hands of various armed groups, including some Islamist factions.

Videos posted on social media since November 27 and reviewed by the FRANCE 24 Observers show the following armaments now in the in hands of rebel groups: 11 L-39 Albatros jets, dozens of tanks – including Russian-made T-90As, the most modern model in the Syrian army’s arsenal – Mil helicopters, military drones, anti-aircraft missiles, heavy vehicles, anti-tank missiles, artillery, mortars, and stores of ammunition of all kinds. It was impossible to assess the battle-readiness of the weapons.
'Some of the captured weapons can only be shown in propaganda videos'

“Tankograd” continues:


Even retreat has its rules and professional methods, but in the last ten years, I have never seen the Assad army retreat properly – they just run away.

As a result, they always leave behind large quantities of weapons and ammunition for their enemies. Over the years, almost all the ammunition and most of the anti-tank missiles used by armed groups against Assad’s forces originally came from the stockpiles abandoned by his army. These groups simply confiscated them. But this time, the quantities seen in the videos are enormous for a single operation and include several types of heavy weapons that opposition forces have been able to obtain for the first time in the Syrian war.

According to 'Tankogrd,' the captured weapons can be divided into two categories: those that armed groups are able to use, and those they can only display in videos for propaganda purposes but cannot actually operate.

These groups are able to use the anti-tank guided missiles, artillery, mortars, tanks, and APCs. And that can make a huge difference. However, I don’t believe they will be able to operate the fighter jets or anti-air missile systems. These require trained personnel, and they simply don’t have them. Turkey cannot help them either because most of these weapons are Russian-made, and the Turks are unfamiliar with them.

Estimates suggest that Iran has spent more than $50 billion in Syria to keep Assad in power. The battles for Aleppo, in particular, marked one of the bloodiest chapters for Iran’s forces, with dozens of soldiers from the IRGC’s elite “25th Karbala Brigade” killed.

UPDATE 5/12/2024: The original version of this article published December 3, 2024 gave a pseudonym for the Iranian military blogger.

AI Firm Sued Over Chatbot That Suggested It Was OK for Child to Kill Parents

"In their rush to extract young people's data and sow addiction, Character.AI has created a product so flawed and dangerous that its chatbots are literally inciting children to harm themselves and others," said one advocate.


Character.AI, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, China, June 2, 2023. Character.AI was downloaded over 1.7 million times in its first week.
(Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 10, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


"You know sometimes I'm not surprised when I read the news and I see stuff like 'child kills parents after a decade of physical and emotional abuse' stuff like this makes me understand a little bit why it happens."

That's a message sent to a child in Texas from a Character.AI chatbot, indicating to the boy that "murdering his parents was a reasonable response to their limiting of his online activity," according to a federal lawsuit filed in Texas district court Monday.

The complaint was brought by two families in Texas who allege that the Google-backed chatbot service Character.AI harmed their two children, including sexually exploiting and abusing the elder, a 17-year-old with high functioning autism, by targeting him with extreme sexual themes like incest and pushing him to self-harm.

The parents argue that Character.AI, "through its design, poses a clear and present danger to American youth causing serious harms to thousands of kids, including suicide, self-mutilation, sexual solicitation, isolation, depression, anxiety, and harm towards others. Inherent to the underlying data and design of C.AI is a prioritization of overtly sensational and violent responses."

Google is also named as a defendant in the suit. In their filing, the plaintiffs argue that the tech company supported Character.AI's launch even though they knew that it was a "defective product."

The families, who are being represented by the Social Media Victims Law Center and the Tech Justice Law Project, have asked the court to take the product offline.

The explosive court filing comes not long after a mother in Florida filed a separate lawsuit against Character.AI in October, arguing that the chatbot service is responsible for the death of her teenage son because it allegedly encouraged him to commit suicide, per CNN.

Character.AI is different than other chatbots in that it lets uses interact with artificial intelligence "characters." The Texas complaint alleges that the 17-year-old, for example, engaged in a conversation with a character modeled after the celebrity Billie Eilish. These sorts of "companion apps" are finding a growing audience, even though researchers have long warned of the perils of building relationships with chatbots, according to The Washington Post.

A spokesperson for Character.AI declined to comment directly on the lawsuit when asked by NPR, but said the company does have guardrails in place overseeing what chatbots can and cannot say to teen users.

"We warned that Character.AI's dangerous and manipulative design represented a threat to millions of children," said Social Media Victims Law Center founding attorney Matthew P. Bergman. "Now more of these cases are coming to light. The consequences of Character.AI's negligence are shocking and widespread." Social Media Victims Law Center is the plaintiff's counsel in the Florida lawsuit as well.

Josh Golin, the executive director of Fairplay, a nonprofit children's advocacy group, echoed those remarks, saying that "in their rush to extract young people's data and sow addiction, Character.AI has created a product so flawed and dangerous that its chatbots are literally inciting children to harm themselves and others."

"Platforms like Character.AI should not be allowed to perform uncontrolled experiments on our children or encourage kids to form parasocial relationships with bots their developers cannot control," he added.

1984

Trump Taps Anti-Trans Lawyer Harmeet Dhillon for Key Civil Rights Post

"Dhillon has focused her career on diminishing civil rights, rather than enforcing or protecting them," argued one critic.


Harmeet Dhillon shakes hands with Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in this photo posted on her X page on October 31, 2024.
(Photo: Harmeet Dhillon/X)

Brett Wilkins
Dec 10, 2024

COMMON DREAMS

LGBTQ+ and voting rights defenders were among those who sounded the alarm Tuesday over Republican President-elect Donald Trump's selection of a San Francisco attorney known for fighting against transgender rights and for leading a right-wing lawyers' group that took part in Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election to oversee the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

On Monday, Trump announced his nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to head the key civil rights office, claiming on his Truth Social network that the former California Republican Party vice-chair "has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers."

"In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights, and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY," Trump added.

However, prominent trans activist Erin Reed warned on her Substack that Dhillon's nomination—which requires Senate confirmation—"signals an alarming shift that could make life increasingly difficult for transgender people nationwide, including those who have sought refuge in blue states to escape anti-trans legislation."



Reed continued:
Dhillon's most prominent work includes founding the Center for American Liberty, a legal organization that focuses heavily on anti-transgender cases in blue states. The organization's "featured cases" section highlights several lawsuits, such as Chloe Cole's case against Kaiser Permanente; a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school's use of a transgender student's preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth.

Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."



Last year, The Guardian's Jason Wilson reported that the Center for American Liberty made a six-figure payment to a public relations firm that represented Dhillion in both "her capacity as head of her own for-profit law firm and Republican activist."

Writing for the voting rights platform Democracy Docket, Matt Cohen on Tuesday accused Dhillon of being "one of the leading legal figures working to roll back voting rights across the country."

"In the past few years, Dhillon—or an attorney from her law firm—has been involved in more than a dozen different lawsuits in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. challenging voting rights laws, redistricting, election processes, or Trump's efforts to appear on the ballot in the 2024 election," Cohen noted.

As Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement Tuesday, "The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has the critical responsibility of enforcing our nation's federal civil rights laws and ensuring equal justice under the law on behalf of all of our communities."

"That means investigating police departments that have a pattern of police abuse, protecting the right to vote, and ensuring schools don't discriminate against children based on who they are," Wiley noted. "The nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to lead this critical civil rights office is yet another clear sign that this administration seeks to advance ideological viewpoints over the rights and protections that protect every person in this country."

"Dhillon has focused her career on diminishing civil rights, rather than enforcing or protecting them," she asserted. "Rather than fighting to expand voting access, she has worked to restrict it."


A staunch Trump loyalist, Dhillon has also embraced conspiracy theories including the former president's "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and has accused Democrats of "conspiring to commit the biggest election interference fraud in world history."


She was co-chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association when it launched Lawyers for Trump, a group that urged the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene on behalf of the former president after he lost the 2020 election.




Cohen also highlighted Dhillon's ties to right-wing legal activist and Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo, described by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) as a "lawless con man and crook" for his refusal to comply with a Senate subpoena and his organization of lavish gifts to conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices.


"We need a leader at the Civil Rights Division who understands that civil rights protections are not partisan or political positions open to the ideological whims of those who seek to elevate a single religion or to protect political allies or particular groups over others," Wiley stressed. "We need a leader who will vigorously enforce our civil rights laws and work to protect the rights of all of our communities—including in voting, education, employment, housing, and public accommodations—without fear or favor."

New Rule From Agency Trump Wants Destroyed Would Save Consumers $5 Billion Per Year in Overdraft Fees


One advocate called the CFPB's new rule "a major milestone in its effort to level the playing field between regular people and big banks."


U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about protecting consumers from junk fees in Washington, D.C. on June 15, 2023.
(Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Julia Conley
Dec 12, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of President-elect Donald Trump's top expected targets as he plans to dismantle parts of the federal government after taking office in January, announced on Thursday its latest action aimed at saving households across the U.S. hundreds of dollars in fees each year.

The agency issued a final rule to close a 55-year-old loophole that has allowed big banks to collect billions of dollars in overdraft fees from consumers each year,


The rule makes significant updates to federal regulations for financial institutions' overdraft fees, ordering banks with more than $10 billion in assets to choose between several options:Capping their overdraft fees at $5;
Capping fees at an amount that covers costs and losses; or
Disclosing the terms of overdraft loans as they do with other loans, giving consumers a choice regarding whether they open a line of overdraft credit and allowing them to comparison-shop.

The final rule is expected to save Americans $5 billion annually in overdraft fees, or about $225 per household that pays overdraft fees.

Adam Rust, director of financial services at the Consumer Federation of America, called the rule "a major milestone" in the CFPB's efforts "to level the playing field between regular people and big banks."


"No one should have to pick between paying a junk overdraft fee or buying groceries," said Rust. "This rule gives banks a choice: they can charge a reasonable fee that does not exploit their customers, or they can treat these loan products as an extension of credit and comply with existing lending laws."

The rule is set to go into effect next October, but the incoming Trump administration could put its implementation in jeopardy. Trump has named billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory body he hopes to create. Musk has signaled that he wants to "delete" the CFPB, echoing a proposal within the right-wing policy agenda Project 2025, which was co-authored by many officials from the first Trump term.

"The CFPB is cracking down on these excessive junk fees and requiring big banks to come clean about the interest rate they're charging on overdraft loans."

"It is critical that incoming and returning members of Congress and President-elect Trump side with voters struggling in this economy and support the CFPB's overdraft rule," said Lauren Saunders, associate director at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC). "This rule is an example of the CFPB's hard work for everyday Americans."


In recent decades, banks have used overdraft fees as profit drivers which increase consumer costs by billions of dollars every year while causing tens of millions to lose access to banking services and face negative credit reports that can harm their financial futures.

The Federal Reserve Board exempted banks from Truth in Lending Act protections in 1969, allowing them to charge overdraft fees without disclosing their terms to consumers.


"For far too long, the largest banks have exploited a legal loophole that has drained billions of dollars from Americans' deposit accounts," said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. "The CFPB is cracking down on these excessive junk fees and requiring big banks to come clean about the interest rate they're charging on overdraft loans."

Government watchdog Accountable.US credited the CFPB with cracking down on overdraft fees despite aggressive campaigning against the action by Wall Street, which has claimed the fees have benefits for American families.

Accountable.US noted that Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Andy Barr of Kentucky have appeared to lift their criticisms of the rule straight from industry talking points, claiming that reforming overdraft fee rules would "limit consumer choice, stifle innovation, and ultimately raise the cost of banking for all consumers."

Similarly, in April Barr claimed at a hearing that "the vast majority of Americans" believe credit card late fees are legitimate after the Biden administration unveiled a rule capping the fees at $8.



"Americans pay billions in overdraft fees every year, but the CFPB's final rule is putting an end to the $35 surprise fee," said Liz Zelnick, director of the Economic Security and Corporate Power Program at Accountable.US. "Despite efforts to block the rule and protect petty profits by big bank CEOs and lobbyists, the Biden administration's initiative will protect our wallets from an exploitative profit-maximizing tactic."

The new overdraft fee rule follows a $95 million enforcement action against Navy Federal Credit Union for illegal surprise overdraft fees and similar actions against Wells Fargo, Regions Bank, and Atlantic Union.

Consumers have saved $6 billion annually through the CFPB's initiative to curb junk fees, which has led multiple banks to reduce or eliminate their fees.

"Big banks that charge high fees for overdrafts are not providing a courtesy to consumers—it's a form of predatory lending that exacerbates wealth disparities and racial inequalities," said Carla Sanchez-Adams, senior attorney at NCLC. "The CFPB's overdraft rule ensures that the most vulnerable consumers are protected from big banks trying to pad their profits with junk fees."

Dems Urge Biden to Limit Presidential Authority to Launch Nuclear War Before Trump Takes Charge

"As Donald Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office, it is more important than ever to take the power to start a nuclear war out of the hands of a single individual and ensure that Congress's constitutional role is respected and fulfilled," wrote Sen. Edward Markey and Rep. Ted Lieu.


A military aide carries the "nuclear football," which contains launch codes for nuclear weapons, while walking to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House October 3, 2022 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 12, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


Two Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden Thursday, urging him to place more checks on potential nuclear weapons use by mandating that a president must obtain authorization from Congress before initiating a nuclear first strike.

The letter writers, Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), argue that "such a policy would provide clear directives for the military to follow: A president could order a nuclear launch only if (1) Congress had approved the decision, providing a constitutional check on executive power or (2) the United States had already been attacked with a nuclear weapon. This would be infinitely safer than our current doctrine."

The two write that time is of the essence: "As Donald Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office, it is more important than ever to take the power to start a nuclear war out of the hands of a single individual and ensure that Congress's constitutional role is respected and fulfilled."




The Constitution vests Congress, not the president, with the power to declare war (though presidents have used military force without getting the OK from Congress on multiple occasions in modern history, according to the National Constitution Center).

During the Cold War, when nuclear weapons policy was produced, speed was seen as essential to deterrence, according to Jon Wolfsthal, the director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists, who wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post last year that makes a similar argument to Markey and Lieu.

"There is no reason today to rely on speedy decision-making during situations in which the United States might launch first. Even as relations with Moscow are at historic lows, we are worlds removed from the Cold War's dominant knife's-edge logic," he wrote.

While nuclear tensions today may not be quite as high as they were during the apex of the Cold War, fears of nuclear confrontation have been heightened due to poor relations between the United States and Russia over the ongoing war in Ukraine, among other issues. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree lowering the threshold for potential nuclear weapons use not long after the U.S. greenlit Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied long range weapons in its fight against Russia.

This is not the first time Markey and Lieu have pushed for greater guardrails on nuclear first-use. The two are the authors of the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, a proposed bill first introduced in 2017 that would bar a U.S. president from launching a nuclear first strike without the consent of Congress.

"We first introduced this act during the Obama administration not as a partisan effort, but to make the larger point that current U.S. policy, which gives the president sole authority to launch nuclear weapons without any input from Congress, is dangerous," they wrote.

In their letter, Markey and Lieu also recount an episode from the first Trump presidency when, shortly after the January 6 insurrection, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley ordered his staff to come to him if they received a nuclear strike order from Trump.

But Milley's ability to intervene was limited, according to Lieu and Markey, because his role is advisory and "the president can unilaterally make a launch decision and implement it directly without informing senior leaders." They argue this episode is a sign that the rules themselves must change.

In Supreme Court Briefs, Biden DOJ Sides With Communities Suing Big Oil

"The Justice Department has affirmed again that communities deserve their day in court to put Big Oil companies on trial for their climate lies and the resulting harms."


A pedestrian walks across a flooded street in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 7, 2021, the morning after a powerful winter tropical storm known as a Kona Low hit the Hawaii islands with heavy rain and high winds causing widespread flooding and power outages across the state.
(Photo: Eugene Tanner/AFP via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Dec 11, 2024
COMMON DREAMS


Campaigners and experts on Wednesday welcomed the Biden administration's new briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to intervene in state and local lawsuits that aim to hold fossil fuel giants accountable for lying to the public about their contributions to the climate emergency.

The Tuesday filings in Sunoco v. the City and County of Honolulu and Alabama v. California align with U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar's amicus brief last year, which stemmed from Colorado communities suing Big Oil. Following that filing, the justices declined to hear five appeals from fossil fuel companies trying to shift climate liability cases from state to federal court.

The U.S. Supreme Court—which has a right-wing supermajority—asked Prelogar to weigh in again this past June and October. Her new filings have climate advocates hopeful that the justices will follow their previous path and let the cases against major polluters advance in state court.


"The Justice Department has affirmed again that communities deserve their day in court to put Big Oil companies on trial for their climate lies and the resulting harms," said Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), in a statement. "Big Oil companies are desperate to avoid facing the evidence of their deception in a courtroom, but wanting to escape the consequences for your actions is not the same thing as having the law on your side."

"As the solicitor general makes clear, there is no legal basis for the Supreme Court to intervene in these cases."

In Honolulu's case—intended to make companies including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell pay for local climate damages—the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected the fossil fuel industry's argument that "state law claims alleging the deceptive marketing of fossil fuel products were either governed by the federal common law of transboundary air pollution or preempted by the Clean Air Act."

Prelogar made the case that the country's highest tribunal "does not have jurisdiction to review the Hawaii Supreme Court's interlocutory decision" that allowed Honolulu's suit to proceed, "and even if it did, further review at this time would be unwarranted."

For the other case—which involves 19 state attorneys general trying to stop climate deception suits in California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—Prelogar wrote that "there is no merit to the contention that the federal common law of transboundary air pollution governs (and therefore precludes) the defendant states' claims."

The solicitor general also argued that the attorneys general working on behalf of Big Oil lack standing; "the only interests directly at stake are the interests of private energy companies," not the citizens of each state; and "the very suits that the complaint seeks to enjoin are better forums for resolving the issues raised."


Alyssa Johl, vice president of legal and general counsel for CCI, said that "as the solicitor general makes clear, there is no legal basis for the Supreme Court to intervene in these cases. State and local governments are seeking to hold corporations accountable for lying about their harmful products, and state courts have the authority to hear those claims. The justices should reject these meritless requests and allow communities to have their day in court to hold Big Oil accountable."

Experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) agreed. Delta Merner, lead scientist for the group's Science Hub for Climate Litigation, said the new briefs "represent an important step in the pursuit of climate accountability" and "reaffirm that communities have the right to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for decades of misleading the public about the harms associated with their products."

"Research has shown how fossil fuel companies knowingly concealed the dangers of their products while misleading the public—a pattern of misconduct that contributed directly to today's climate crisis," she noted. "These cases seek to give communities the chance to present this evidence in court, shining a light on the broader impacts of corporate disinformation campaigns."

"We applaud the Biden administration's continued support for these lawsuits and urge the incoming Trump administration to continue following science and clear legal arguments."

Kathy Mulvey, director of the climate accountability campaign at UCS, stressed that "communities like Honolulu are bearing the financial burden of addressing climate damages, using public dollars to remediate harms caused by decades of deception by fossil fuel companies."

"A core principle of accountability is timely access to justice through the courts. Honolulu and other communities have already waited years to present their evidence and argue their claims," she added. "We applaud the Biden administration's continued support for these lawsuits and urge the incoming Trump administration to continue following science and clear legal arguments."

Honolulu's suit is just one of dozens that state and local governments have filed against the fossil fuel industry—and Prelogar's brief last year notably represented a departure from the first Trump administration's support for Big Oil. Her new briefs come as the nation prepares for President-elect Donald Trump to return to the White House next month, with a Republican-controlled Congress.

Shortly after the GOP electoral victories last month, Emily Sanders a senior reporter for the CCI project ExxonKnews, spoke with multiple legal experts who framed the courts as key to Big Oil accountability with Trump and Republican lawmakers in power.

"It's not a stretch to say the message coming from the federal executive branch writ large and large numbers of Congress is going to be climate denial and misrepresentations," said Pat Parenteau, an environmental law professor and senior fellow at Vermont Law School. "So these cases and these jury verdicts are going to be even more important to correct the record to the extent you can."

Pesticide Scorecard Exposes Which Food Retailers Are Failing Bees

"Under the incoming Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency will likely do even less to mitigate the damage of pesticides, putting even more onus on companies to address the escalating risks," said one climate advocate.


A wild bee searches for nectar and pollen on a dandelion flower in a meadow in Brandenburg, Germany.
Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Eloise Goldsmith
Dec 10, 2024

COMMON DREAMS


A report released Tuesday from the environmental group Friends of the Earth finds that the U.S. food retail sector's use of pesticides on just four crops—almonds, apples, soy, and corn—could result in over $200 billion worth of financial, climate, and biodiversity risks for the industry between 2024 and 2050. Pollinators, including bees, form a crucial link between pesticide use and these risks.

The report was released in tandem with the group's annual retailer scorecard, which ranks the largest U.S. grocery stores on the "steps they are taking to address the use of toxic pesticides in their supply chains and to support the expansion of organic agriculture and other ecological solutions."

While it highlights some industry leadership on this issue, the authors of the scorecard say that, on the whole, retailer action to curb the impact of pesticides falls short. The following retailers received an "F" grade from Friends of the Earth: Wakefern, Publix, Dollar General, 7-Eleven Inc., Hy-Vee, Walgreens, H-E-B, BJ's, Amazon, and Wegmans.

Although its owner, Amazon, received an F grade, the grocery store Whole Foods was the only retailer that was given an A grade.

A handful of the companies, including Whole Foods, have made time bound pledges to address pesticide use by requiring fresh produce suppliers to adopt ecological farming methods and to confirm their practices through third-party verifications. Eight companies have created policies that encourage suppliers to reduce the use of "pesticides of concern—including neonicotinoids, organophosphates, and glyphosate—and to shift to least-toxic approaches," according to the scorecard.

Friends of the Earth's report on risks associated with pesticide use explains why scrutiny around retailers' use of pesticides is warranted, and why retailers themselves ought to be motivated to reduce these risks.

For one thing, "under the incoming Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency will likely do even less to mitigate the damage of pesticides, putting even more onus on companies to address the escalating risks," according to Kendra Klein, deputy director of science at Friends of the Earth.

"Food retailers must urgently reduce their use of pesticides and advance organic and other ecologically regenerative approaches. They have the opportunity to lead in the fight against biodiversity collapse and climate change, helping to ensure Americans have continued access to healthy food," she said in a statement.

An estimated one-third of world crops rely on pollination, and a little less than three-fourths of fruit and vegetable crops require pollination from insects and other creatures, according to the report. Pollinators are often studied as an indicator for biodiversity risk and general environmental health—and experts cite pesticides as among the reasons that pollinators are in decline. Research also shows that pesticides poise a threat to healthy soil ecosystems.

According to the report, an estimated one-third of world crops rely on pollination, and a little less than three-fourths of fruit and vegetable crops require pollination from insects and other creatures. Pollinators are often studied as an indicator for biodiversity risk and general environmental health—and experts cite pesticides as among the reasons that pollinators are in decline, per the report. Research also shows that pesticides poise a threat to healthy soil ecosystems, the report states.

The report states that 89% of the almond crop area, 72% of apples, 100% of corn, and 40% of soy receives more than one "lethal dose" of an insecticide that is considered toxic to bees. This "quantification of the risk of pesticides to pollinators" for the four crops "provides the values to conduct the financial analysis in this study."

The document details how the food retail industry's use of pesticides creates direct costs for the industry—for example, the money spent purchasing and applying the pesticides, the CO2 emissions associated with using or producing pesticides, and the impact on crop yields, as well as indirect costs.

When it comes to climate damage costs, the report estimates that U.S. food retailer sales for products that include soy, corn, apples, and almonds will suffer $4.5 billion over the period of 2024-50. Biodiversity risk stemming from using pollinator-harming pesticides on those four crops is valued much higher, at $34.3 billion, over the same time period.

Extreme Weather Fueled by Climate Crisis Cost Insurers $600 Billion

"Unless we cut emissions sharply this decade, climate damages will grow exponentially and could overwhelm both insurers and economies," one expert warned.

The mailbox and metal frame of a home destroyed by the Mountain Fire stand among debris on West Highland Drive in Camarillo, California on November 8, 2024.
(Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Jessica Corbett
Dec 10, 2024
COMMON DREAM

A report out Tuesday shows that the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency accounts for an estimated $600 billion of global insured weather losses over a recent two-decade period, which a campaign targeting the insurance industry called "an immense climate price tag that insurers have long been passing on to policyholders."

Insure Our Future, the international campaign behind the eighth annual scorecard, is supported by advocacy groups including Ekō, Greenpeace, Mazaska Talks, Public Citizen, Rainforest Action Network, Reclaim Finance, the Sunrise Project, and Waterkeeper Alliance.

The report—titled, Within Our Power: Cut Emissions Today To Insure Tomorrow—"examines what 20 years of climate attribution science reveals about today's insurance crisis, explores the status of gross direct premiums from insuring fossil fuels and renewable energy activities, and analyzes the coal, oil, and gas policies of 30 leading primary insurers and reinsurers."





While climate-attributed losses from 2002 to 2022 worked out to around $30 billion annually, the financial burden was not evenly spread out over those 20 years. Instead, the report says, such losses "have recently accounted for a growing share of insured weather losses, showing how decarbonization is crucial to contain soaring insurance costs."

"The climate-attributed share of insured weather losses rose from 31% to 38% over the last decade on average, and their annual growth (6.5%) significantly outpaced thegrowth of the insured losses (4.9%)," the publication explains. "In 2022, $52 billion out of $132 billion was climate-attributed."

The other key findings are:Estimated climate-attributed losses for 28 top property and casualty insurers ($10.6 billion) approached the fossil fuel premiums they collected ($11.3 billion) in 2023—and for more than half the companies, they exceeded them;
The renewable energy insurance market is still under 30% of the size of the fossil fuel insurance market in 2023, threatening to be a bottleneck for investments in the climate transition; and

At the brink of 1.5°C, insurers are abandoning at-risk communities worldwide while enabling fossil fuel expansion that drives these risks higher—requiring immediate policy and regulatory action.

The report acknowledges that its findings arrive amid scientists' warnings that 2024 is on track to be the first full year to breach 1.5°C—the Paris agreement's target for temperature rise this century. The latest meeting for countries signed on to that treaty, held in Azerbaijan last month, concluded with what critics called a "big F U to climate justice."

Like activists and experts outraged by the conclusion of COP29, Ilan Noy, a professor focused on the economics of disasters and climate change at New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington, stressed the importance of bolder global action in response to the Insure Our Future report.

"Insurers are fundamentally misunderstanding climate risk by failing to recognize how greenhouse gas emissions have driven up losses throughout this century," Noy said in a statement. "Unless we cut emissions sharply this decade, climate damages will grow exponentially and could overwhelm both insurers and economies."

Laurie Laybourn, director of the U.K.-based Strategic Climate Risks Initiative, similarly suggested that the climate emergency poses an existential threat to the insurance industry while discussing Insure Our Future's report with Forbes' David Vetter.

"Because insurance impacts are mounting and because we don't have an insurance system built for the way that climate change is evolving, this dynamic is only going to get much worse," Laybourn said. "As we're already seeing, governments are having to step in to effectively ensure that insurance can still exist in certain places."

"In Florida, you have a situation where flood insurance is increasingly receding and the government is having to make decisions about how and what to cover," he noted. "It's the case as well in the U.K., where major flooding events led to the creation of Flood Re, a government-backed reinsurance agency to cover places that are effectively uninsurable through private markets."

Warning of a potential "doom loop" in which climate impacts cause instability that impedes adequately ambitious action, Laybourn added that "we need systems that are more resilient so that we can continue to remain focused on decarbonization, even as things get more unstable."

The new report offers a roadmap to a more resilient insurance system. As the document points out, this is the first time Insure Our Future has included policy recommendations for lawmakers and regulators.

The publication urges insurance firms to immediately stop insuring new fossil fuel projects or any customers from the industry that have not published a transition plan for the 1.5°C goal. It also calls on insurers to set their own binding Paris-aligned targets and to divest from coal, gas, and oil companies.

The report further pushes insurers to align stewardship activities, trade associations membership, and public positions with a credible 1.5°C pathway; establish mechanisms to ensure clients fully respect human rights; and explore bringing fossil fuel companies to court "to make polluters rather than insurance customers pay."

Top Progressives Urge DNC to Reject Super PACs, Uplift Working-Class Base


Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders are pressing the Democratic Party to offer "a clear alternative and inclusive vision for how we will make life better for the 90% who are struggling in this economy."

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) speaks, flanked by other CPC members including Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), the incoming chair, standing immediately to her left, and Deputy Chair Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), to her far right, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on May 24, 2023.

(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Dec 10, 2024
COMMON DREAMS

In the wake of U.S. federal elections resulting in Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress—in no small part due to Democrats' failure to win working-class votes—leading congressional progressives are pushing a plan to rebuild the Democratic Party by rejecting corporate cash and uplifting low- and middle-income Americans.

In a memo first shared with Punchbowl News, outgoing Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), incoming Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas), and CPC members Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) urge the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to "rebuild our party from the ground up."

The lawmakers call on DNC leadership to "create an authentic Democratic brand that offers a clear alternative and inclusive vision for how we will make life better for the 90% who are struggling in this economy, take on the biggest corporations and wealthiest individuals who have rigged the system," and expose GOP President-elect Donald Trump's "corporate favoritism" to "create a clear contrast with Republicans."



Jayapal outlined what she called "four core principles" for the next DNC chair, who hasn't yet been elected:Reform, restructure, and rebrand the Democratic Party from the ground up and commit to a 50-state strategy that builds power through state parties;
Embrace grassroots donors and reject special interest and dark money, including by reinstating the DNC's 2008 ban on corporate political action committee donations, and pushing to prohibit super PAC spending in state primaries;
Rebuild Democrats' multiracial, working-class base by uplifting poor, low-, and middle-income voices and concerns; and
Highlight recent electoral successes while working to build broad coalitions to win elections.

The progressives' memo urges the DNC to "invest in showing our commitment to real populism versus Trump's faux populism
through lifting up working-class voices and issue-based campaigns that take on corporate concentration and monopoly power at the expense of working people."

The principles enumerated in the memo resonated beyond the CPC. Responding to the proposed agenda in a social media post, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) concurred: "The next DNC chair should absolutely refuse to take corporate PAC money. If we are the party of the working class—and we are—then let's raise $ like we mean it."

Casar, who before running for elected office worked as policy director for the Workers Defense Project—whose victories included rest and water breaks for outdoor laborers, anti-wage theft legislation, and living wage requirements—has repeatedly stressed the imperative "to re-emphasize core economic issues" that matter most to American workers.

"The core of the Republican Party is about helping Wall Street and billionaires. And I think we have to call out the game," Casar said last week during an interview with NBC News.

"The Democratic Party, at its best, can hold people or can have inside of its tent people across geography, across race, and across ideology," he added. "Because we're all in the same boat when it comes to making sure that you can retire with dignity, that your kids can go to school, that you can buy a house."