Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
June 27, 2014

Syria: Obama Prolongs The Conflict

Obama Requests Money to Train ‘Appropriately Vetted’ Syrian Rebels

President Obama requested $500 million from Congress on Thursday to train and equip what the White House is calling “appropriately vetted” members of the Syrian opposition, reflecting increased worry about the spillover of the Syrian conflict into Iraq.

The move is somewhat lunatic. Pumping more weapons and fighters into the Syrian conflict will only escalate it and will negatively affect the security situation in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. This is thereby certainly not about "worry" of spillovers. August last year Edwald Luttwak argued that the U.S. wins it both side continue to fight and that the U.S. should prolong the conflict as long as possible:

Maintaining a stalemate should be America’s objective. And the only possible method for achieving this is to arm the rebels when it seems that Mr. Assad’s forces are ascendant and to stop supplying the rebels if they actually seem to be winning.

It seems that Obama is, even at the cost of wider regional fallout, following this policy.

The Obama spokepersons deserve another Orwell medal:

“While we continue to believe that there is no military solution to this crisis and that the United States should not put American troops into combat in Syria, this request marks another step toward helping the Syrian people defend themselves against regime attacks,” Caitlin Hayden, a National Security Council spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The biggest danger for civilians and the Free Syrian Army, who's official heads have just (again) been fired for graft, are not the government forces but the Jihadists.

The U.S. has already trained "appropriately vetted" rebels for at least two years now and has delivered tons of weapons to them. Those weapons ended up in Jihadists hands and the "vetted" rebels are now either dead or have joined AlQaeda aligned groups. The new training will likely take some six month before those trained are somewhat ready. The Syrian government will by then be in a better position than today and the main enemy for everyone else in the field will be ISIS. It will not surprise me when those "appropriately vetted" rebels will join either the government side or ISIS as soon as they are back inside Syria.

Posted by b on June 27, 2014 at 15:49 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Prolonging the conflict is another way of admitting defeat. What are they doing now that they haven't already done? From making stupid public statement like "Assad must go", "Assad has days not weeks blah blah blah" to sending not so un-lethal aid to "moderate" rebels that kill moderately for democracy. To openly supporting Al-Qaeda franchize, Al-Nusra. I mean, what else is new?

Is it right to label US government as a state sponsor of terror!

Posted by: Zico | Jun 27 2014 16:07 utc | 1

turning other countries into shitholes is what america does best.. where would the world be without the constant flood of military gear? the usa is terrorist country numero uno. they ain't fooling anyone.

Posted by: james | Jun 27 2014 16:13 utc | 2

Here is one comment on the link in the article above, which I thought was very true.."Just a few minutes ago I read a title saying that US is demanding Russia to pressure all the separatist rebels in Ukraine to disarm immediately...
... while at the same time US is sending millions to jihadist "rebels" fighting in Syria against the secular and popularly elected Assad. What is the definition of hypocrisy?"

Posted by: harry law | Jun 27 2014 16:17 utc | 3

It is more lucid to describe Obama's action as not risking an outbreak of regional war, but rather inviting it. This looks to be the preferred course of action for this administration. In their own minds, they surely know what they are doing. There is a proxy war set to start over the fate of Syria and Iraq; and it is a somewhat, or absolute, lunatic policy. This shows that Obama and his bunch in the Executive Branch have no care for the peace of this world, or for the sacrifice of blood.

Al-Maliki, the Iraqi president, is buying fighter jets from Russia, because he now understands that Obama has just been stringing him along, and stonewalling him over delivery, or confirmed sale, of US planes. Those US machines would never arrive to fight the ISIS; for they are just a mirage in the arsenal of deception, which is Obama's most effective weapon, so far.

The well-provisioned Jihadist bunch that attacks Iraq, is also to be coordinated with an escalation of insurgent war against Syria. The lunatics in Washington think that they will somehow win the door prize, making proxy war throughout this territory, pitted against Russia.

Posted by: Copeland | Jun 27 2014 16:36 utc | 4

Canadian government document released a couple of months ago revealed that the Canadian armed forces had detailed a plan to, in conjunction one might assume with fellow NATO members, assist militarily all rebel groups in Syria in the effort to finally achieve the regime change operation against Assad, to be immediately followed by a second war against those rebels/ former allies deemed to be too extreme. Breathtakingly cynical and, as always, devoid of any concern for the civilian population.

Posted by: jayc | Jun 27 2014 16:37 utc | 5

Will 500 millions $ save the corrupted FSA from total collapse?

Syria opposition sacks rebel command

Corruption allegations levelled against Syria's rebel Free Syria Army has forced the opposition government to sack its military command.
Source

Syria's opposition government sacked the military command of the rebel Free Syrian Army over corruption allegations, as the White House asked lawmakers for $US500 million ($A540.98 million) for moderate insurgents.

A statement by the opposition government said its chief Ahmad Tohme "decided to disband the Supreme Military Council and refer its members to the government's financial and administration committee for investigation".

The decision came amid widespread reports of corruption within the ranks of the FSA, which is backed by Western and Arab governments in its battle to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The government in exile said it was also sacking FSA chief of staff Brigadier General Abdelilah al-Bashir.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/06/27/syria-opposition-sacks-rebel-command


Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:03 utc | 6

Well,as $500,000,000.00 is just a drop in the $?,000,000,000,000.00 wasted so far in this un-self serving war of terror,it should pass muster with the MSM,but the people might be another story,if we had the power to say so.And the comments on the MSM are also highly antagonistic to all this martial idiocy by dweeb warriors of gender bending,man hating and zioloving ethnicity,one would think revolution is almost possible."Call out the instigators,cause there's something in the air". ah,Keep dreaming dahoit.
A wasteland of intellect,and a sh*tload of hypocritical nihilists.

Posted by: dahoit | Jun 27 2014 17:06 utc | 7

As expected, the "generous" 500 millions $ is to fight ISIS with little chances of winning or surviving. Is it the USA trick to please Saudi Arabia and get rid of the FSA on the battle field? If they are smart the FSA fighters should defect and join the Syrian Army immediately. They stand zero chances confronting ISIS.

Kerry: Syrian moderate rebels could help in Iraq

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry signaled on Friday that the U.S. hopes to enlist moderate Syrian opposition fighters that the Obama administration has reluctantly decided to arm and train in the battle against militant extremists in neighboring Iraq.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-27-12-35-08

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:12 utc | 8

I can imagine the vetting test. You make the recruit drop his pants and attach a feather to his penis. If the feather rises above a certain predetermined angle whilst he's viewing a beheading video and or photos — or a video showing the nuclear annihilation of Israel or Jews being gassed and shoveled into ovens, he doesn't make the cut (pun intended).

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 27 2014 17:18 utc | 9

Iraq's attack by ISIS is the moment to test the USA reliability as an ally.
Until now it failed lamentably. No planes, 90 advisors and a lot of empty promises. The Iraqi government now knows for sure that they can never count on the USA when they need it.
Iraq and many disillusioned Arab countries will gradually turn to Russia and China for weapons and political support. Both have proven to be reliable allies to Syria on the international scene.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:18 utc | 10

@8 "If they are smart the FSA fighters should defect and join the Syrian Army immediately."

They should take the money and THEN defect.

Posted by: dh | Jun 27 2014 17:23 utc | 11

Poor Jarba... Kerry is telling him why he is finally going to get the money he has been begging for!

Kerry says Syrian Opp has key role against ISIL


US Secretary of State John Kerry told Syrian rebel leader Ahmad Jarba on Friday that the moderate opposition he heads would be important in repelling ISIL, the al Qaeda offshoot which is fighting in both Syria and Iraq.
...
“We have even more to talk about in terms of the moderate opposition in Syria, which has the ability to be a very important player in pushing back against ISIL’s presence,” Kerry told Jarba in a meeting at Jeddah airport at the start of a brief trip to Saudi Arabia.

“President Jarba represents a tribe that reaches right into Iraq. He knows people there, and his point of view and that of the Syrian opposition will be very important going forward,” said Kerry before a scheduled meeting with Saudi King Abdullah.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2014/06/27/foreign/kerry-says-syrian-opp-has-key-role-against-isil/

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:24 utc | 12

Al-Maliki, the Iraqi president, is buying fighter jets from Russia, because he now understands that Obama has just been stringing him along, and stonewalling him over delivery, or confirmed sale, of US planes. Those US machines would never arrive to fight the ISIS; for they are just a mirage in the arsenal of deception, which is Obama's most effective weapon, so far.

Are you seriously suggesting Obama should proceed with the delivery of the F-16 jets considering ISIS could overrun Baghdad and seize said jets? If so, you simply have no credibility. If you want to be credible, you have to laud Obama right now for his restraint in not being enticed into a quagmire and his ability to learn from Libya. Al Maliki and the Shiites wanted America out without a SOFA. It's time for Iraq and its backers, Iran, to step up and handle the matter. Let al Maliki purchase Russian jets and several months down the road he can donate them to the ISIS cause as it rolls thorugh Baghdad on its way to India, Israel and beyond.

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 27 2014 17:25 utc | 13

Obama wouldn't be making dopey announcements like this if he wasn't getting a lot of bad news about his (& BBC's) 'rebels' in Syria. Or to put it the other way if things were going swimmingly he'd be talking about that (aka Mission Accomplished).
He's trying to placate his detractors in the Homeland.
And Yankees are STILL as weak as piss and twice as yellow - like their "Israeli" friends.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 27 2014 17:27 utc | 14

The two suicide bombers in Lebanon are young Saudis. Surprise?

Not much reported in the MSM....

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:28 utc | 15

Iraq and many disillusioned Arab countries will gradually turn to Russia and China for weapons and political support. Both have proven to be reliable allies to Syria on the international scene.

God, I sure hope so, but I won't hold my breath. It would be a sight to see. I wonder how long it would last?

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 27 2014 17:28 utc | 16

How exactly do you vett a wannabe insurgent? Do they rely on resumes? Slick LinkedIN profiles? Are there internships? Do you have to go to the right schools? Is it who you know not what you know that lands you a gig with the latest "moderate" Syrian faction?

Seriously, I'd love for the administration to outline the process for "appropriately vetting" and what makes a good candidate.

Is it a multiple choice exam with questions like "are you really an ISIS insurgent" yes/no? "Do you intend to take this cash, training, and weaponry and use it against Americans in the future" yes/no?

Future historians are going to have a field day with the US empire.

Posted by: thepanzer | Jun 27 2014 17:34 utc | 17

@Cold

The chances that ISIS reach Baghdad is null. The only areas they won is only because they were inhabited in majority by Sunnis who were sympathizers to Saddam Hossein and to Al Qaeeda.
When you see the formidable army that the Iraqi Shias have setup in preparation for assaults, ISIS under a few air attacks will disappear into thin air. Iraq's geography is not Afghanistan. Except for Kurdistan it is mainly flat and desertic.
As usual ISIS will hide in the villages and towns they control and use the civilians in the areas they invaded as human shields, as they did in Aleppo, Homs and Hama.
It would be the most difficult problem for the Iraqi army to avoid civilian casualties.
Al Maliki repeated that if the USA had delivered the planes when they were supposed to, ISIS wouldn't have been able to take any areas.

Now the harm is done and the lesson taken: Don't ever count on the USA for help.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:40 utc | 18

Obama must be really pissed off with Assad. His Syrian 'rebels' are so depleted and disorganised that Assad can afford to send a few spare jets on an R & R spree in Iraq to help Maliki with his 'rebel' problem (under the watchful gaze of Putin's flotilla).

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 27 2014 17:43 utc | 19

@18 Those F 16s were riddled with bugs anyway. They'd probably fly straight to Jordan.

Posted by: dh | Jun 27 2014 17:45 utc | 20

Cold

Iran has been the faithful ally ( puppet) of the USA and Israel during the rule of the Shah. See what happened. Iran has totally distanciate itself from the USA. To a lesser degree, because Arab countries are much weaker than Iran, it will happen in Arab countries too, with time.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:47 utc | 21

It's an old story and I've said it before and say it again COIN (the USA's counter-insurgency) doctrine does not do anything except enrich those corporations in the business of 'security'

http://ronaldthomaswest.com/2014/05/26/counterfeit-coin/

^ Counterfeit COIN (brought to you by war criminal David Petraeus)

"Destabilized nations are ripe for rip-off, and the recipe is, desperate for cash related to ‘security’, corrupt regimes propped up by the western democracies are inclined to sell their resources on the cheap and use the proceeds to buy military equipment necessary to beat back insurgency and stay in power, so the money they received from selling their resources to the western democracies are returned to the western democracies military-industrial coffers (noting it is not only the USA in this game.)"

Posted by: Ronald Thomas West | Jun 27 2014 17:50 utc | 22

Some sick sick bastards are calling the shots in the American deep state. Sad.

Posted by: Northern Observer | Jun 27 2014 17:51 utc | 23

Panzer

You are right. Now that we learn that 5 FSA commanders are been sacked because of corruption, one may wonder how reliable as the 'moderates' rebels.
Either the USA is living in a total fantasy world or they deliberately feed the fantasies of Saudi Arabia and Arabs who still think that Americans know what they are doing.
The situation in the area shows that the USA has no clue whatsoever of what is happening and what to do.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 17:55 utc | 24

US is desperate and look weak and they just want to unzip their pants and take their cocks out and put it on the table to be taken seriously. This aid might come with stingers and lots of anti tanks to punish Assad for winning the elections.

As for the Iraqis losing their airplane or Baghdad, forget it. There are 2 million people that volunteered to fight ISIS

Posted by: Shoes | Jun 27 2014 18:30 utc | 25

Assuming that Obama can get his half-a-billion request through Congress, which is going to be an unpopular vote for both conservatives and liberals because the anti-interventionist sentiment is running hot right now, my sense is that it is going to go Islamic Front (IF). IF will have to undergo some sort of name change or "moderate"-washing, which has already been underway for many months and which b has identified and called bullshit on in previous posts. IF has Saudi backing minus the Qaeda-taint of ISIS and Nusra.

Posted by: Mike Maloney | Jun 27 2014 18:31 utc | 26

As for the Iraqis losing their airplane or Baghdad, forget it. There are 2 million people that volunteered to fight ISIS

Posted by: Shoes | Jun 27, 2014 2:30:11 PM | 25

So long as you control everything surrounding Baghdad, you can turn it into a ghetto where nothing gets in and out, or at least not effectively and consistently gets in and out. That 2 million will eventually turn against each other. When Baghdad has lost its will, ISIS will walk in essentially unimpeded. Baghdad is purely symbolic. You don't have to have it to control Iraq, but it will make a nice trophy when it finally cedes.

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 27 2014 18:57 utc | 27

US Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States hopes to enlist so-called “moderate” Syrian militants in the battle against terrorists in neighboring Iraq. I would love to have seen Al-Jarba.s face when Kerry offered him the 500 million, and what he expected Jarba to do with it. It just goes to show, the US hav'nt a clue what they are doing. By the way 500 million is chump change when compared to the estimated costs of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The Kennedy Law School said the combined and projected costs of those wars would be 6 Trillion Dollars.FYI Here is what 1 Trillion Dollars looks like. http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2009/03/25/what-1-trillion-dollars-looks-like-in-dollar-bills.html

Posted by: harry law | Jun 27 2014 19:14 utc | 28

@27 - you mean the same kind of trophy the americans took back in 2003? friggin idiot..

Posted by: james | Jun 27 2014 19:18 utc | 29

@thepanzer

The Pentagon Has A Problem: "Vetting Moderate Al Qaeda Rebels Can Be Tough" - So Here Is A Simple Solution...

"Excuse me, would you describe yourself as a moderate or extreme al-Qaeda jihadist. Answering affirmatively to the former assures you your own US-made Humvee and a few thousand bullets to shoot at US soldiers across the border in Iraq."
...
Presenting: The Moderate Syrian Rebel Application Form

After announcing, on Thursday, that it would seek $500 million to help “train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the moderate Syrian armed opposition,” the White House today posted the following Moderate Syrian Rebel Application Form:

Welcome to the United States’ Moderate Syrian Rebel Vetting Process. To see if you qualify for $500 million in American weapons, please choose an answer to the following questions:

As a Syrian rebel, I think the word or phrase that best describes me is:

A) Moderate
B) Very moderate
C) Crazy moderate
D) Other

I became a Syrian rebel because I believe in:

A) Truth
B) Justice
C) The American Way
D) Creating an Islamic caliphate

If I were given a highly lethal automatic weapon by the United States, I would:

A) Only kill exactly the people that the United States wanted me to kill
B) Try to kill the right people, with the caveat that I have never used an automatic weapon before
C) Kill people only after submitting them to a rigorous vetting process
D) Immediately let the weapon fall into the wrong hands

I have previously received weapons from:

A) Al Qaeda
B) The Taliban
C) North Korea
D) I did not receive weapons from any of them because after they vetted me I was deemed way too moderate

I consider ISIS:

A) An existential threat to Iraq
B) An existential threat to Syria
C) An existential threat to Iraq and Syria
D) The people who will pick up my American weapon after I drop it and run away

Complete the following sentence. “American weapons are…”

A) Always a good thing to randomly add to any international hot spot
B) Exactly what this raging civil war has been missing for the past three years
C) Best when used moderately
D) Super easy to resell online

Thank you for completing the Moderate Syrian Rebel Application Form. We will process your application in the next one to two business days. Please indicate a current mailing address where you would like your weapons to be sent. If there is no one to sign for them we will leave them outside the front door.
Average:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-27/pentagon-has-problem-vetting-moderate-al-qaeda-rebels-can-be-tough-so-here-simple-so

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 19:20 utc | 30

The prominent Baghdad Shia cleric, al-Sistani, has said that Prime Minister al-Maliki should not continue in office, and that a new PM should be chosen before the next Parliament sits. Sistani is calling for more unity, but surely it will be very different from what Washington has in mind.

Zero Hedge has the story.

Posted by: Copeland | Jun 27 2014 19:34 utc | 31

This $500 million to 'vetted' insurgents seems to have left everybody dumbfounded. The NY Times article on this had about 200 comments. I scanned them all. There was not one favorable comment. Found four that expressed support for Obama, were worried that it might not work but were willing to give him the benefit of doubt. The rest were overwhelmingly negative. Many quite funny in their ridicule and satire.

I have never seen such a demonstration of contempt for Obama. Many of these people, given they have to pay to play at the NYTs, probably voted for him both times. I cannot see him maintaining his approval rating above 40% much longer.

Posted by: ToivoS | Jun 27 2014 19:34 utc | 32

@30 - virgile. thanks. that about sums it up.

@32 toivos quote from nyt comment section regarding obama "...were worried that it might not work but were willing to give him the benefit of doubt."

benefit of the doubt.. right.. as if folks need to have any doubt about any of it.. americans have had how many years to watch iraq unravel, only to see a similar desire for regime change in syria and how it will unravel, but they want to give him the ''benefit of the doubt''.. right.. brain-dead is more like it..

Posted by: james | Jun 27 2014 20:20 utc | 33

@22 Ronald Thomas West

What did COIN even mean in Iraq.
A. Haphazard plans to build wells
or
B. Petraeus empowering death squads for ethnic cleansing operations

B. is the only sort of counterinsurgency that USA knows how to do, from Central and South America to Asia and the ME. USA can't end a war without death squads.

Posted by: Crest | Jun 27 2014 20:27 utc | 34

Gatekeeper Juan Cole is doing his part... writing in Common Dreams

Is Russia Replacing US in Iraq?

last para is a doozy:

"Al-Maliki’s apparent desire to mimic the Syrian Baath Party’s tactics is misguided. The Syrian regime’s extensive shelling of Homs has reduced it to rubble. Al-Maliki told the BBC he had not asked Syria to bomb the ISIS positions at the Qa’im border crossing, but added that it was perfectly all right with him for foreign nations to bomb his own. The Yeltsin approach to Chechnya comes to mind."

iirc, Cole was fully behind bombing Libya back to the stone-age.

Posted by: crone | Jun 27 2014 21:16 utc | 35

oops, forgot link:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/27-1

Posted by: crone | Jun 27 2014 21:17 utc | 36

The 500 Millions dollar saga continues...

US military aid to Syria rebels: why Obama is seeking it now

The $500 million Obama is requesting to train and arm Syrian rebels, the first direct US military aid in the three-year civil war, is part of a counterterrorism initiative and not directed against the Assad regime.
....
Even if approved by Congress, the military assistance – part of a much larger request for Pentagon overseas operations – won’t reach Syria for months at best, administration officials say. Rebel groups will have to be vetted to ensure that arms don’t slip into the hands of extremists – a key administration worry – and the administration still has to determine what types of arms it plans to provide.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2014/0627/US-military-aid-to-Syria-rebels-why-Obama-is-seeking-it-now

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 21:51 utc | 37

Guess he got some feedback on his request!

Posted by: crone | Jun 27 2014 22:04 utc | 38

Thankfully 'warm and giving ground' (troll 1453789\234a) is insane and deluded - one mental capacity issue would be enough to remove him from my employ- but I suppose they are getting desparate

Posted by: bridger | Jun 27 2014 22:07 utc | 39

Virgile,

Thanks for that. I lol'd. : )

Posted by: Thepanzer | Jun 27 2014 22:07 utc | 40

@32

Oh well then since Obama is unpopular in the minds of the readers of the Zionist shitrag the NYT I guess then...what?

Here's a fucking clue:

IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FUCKING THINK NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE PROPAGANDISTS TRY TO TELL YOU SO!!!

Why is this seemingly simple idea so fucking hard for the American/Western public - but especially the fake left dupes - to understand?

Egos to big? Too much self-importance? Don't want to face stark reality? What is it for fuck's sake?

So, we'll get a Republican, or Killary or any other of the fucking murderous stooges as POTUS and the bourgeois American nimrods will go back to wondering just how REPLACEMENT X could possible continue on this decades-long murder/rape/looting - based on INCOMPETENCE, remember!!! - with such terrible poll numbers.

People sometimes ask me "Hey, JSore, why don't you tell us what to do then about all this...."

Well, I never answer mainly because I DON'T - and DON'T WANT TO - KNOW who you personally are - your age, socioeconomic status, health, etc - and thus couldn't give practicable advice even if I wanted to but ONE FUCKING THING that ANYONE can do is:

STOP FUCKING GIVING CREDENCE TO THE NONSENSE HORSESHIT NARRATIVES THAT WAR CRIMINAL PROPAGANDA OUTFITS LIKE THE NYT ARE PUSHING!

Why?

Because - THEY ARE TRYING TO HOOK YOU INTO THE STORY/FAIRY TALES TPTB ARE SPINNING, FFS!!!!!

After the millions of lives lost as a result of the NYT's propaganda work over just the last decade alone what is more sadder? That brainwashed people still depend upon/view it as a RELIABLE news source? Or that other brainwashed people think that they can feel better about the world/country we live in by trying to pick apart and classify the comments - totally moderated and censored, mind you left by retard group #1? Holy fuck.

If the US public viscerally understood FINALLY that it REALLY DID NOT MATTER who is leading the country AS THEY OUTCOMES WILL BE IDENTICAL then we might finally get somewhere.

And they wouldn't give a flying fuck what the NYT was saying or a flying fuck about what others were saying the NYT was saying because they would KNOW that it's all just shit trying to keep them from getting fucking angry and demanding justice.

Shit, there are paid propagandists/trolls on this little MOA site. You don't actually think you can trust the comments of people whose posts are published THERE do you?

Holy Fuck.

Posted by: JSorrentine | Jun 27 2014 22:18 utc | 41

More sadder? That's right MORE FUCKING SADDER.

Posted by: JSorrentine | Jun 27 2014 22:20 utc | 42

On the subject of Iraq, ZeroHedge has now discovered the "Clean Break" plan: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-26/chaos-iraq-design.

Posted by: Seamus Padraig | Jun 27 2014 22:45 utc | 43

Adding:

I mean, anyone with two freaking brain cells can see the amount of money, time and effort that TPTB expend to keep the farcical nonsensical fairy tale of the US/Western capitalist economy alive: go ahead look at ANY economic indicator and try with a straight face tell us all that it actually correlates to reality in ANY way, shape or form - e.g., the DOW JONES is at nearly 17 FUCKING THOUSAND!! How about the hundreds of business shows and print and analysts and talking heads etc they create/employ to make it SEEM as if they entirety of the US financial system is NOT just an massive mechanism for unmitigated theft? How much do you think THAT ALL COSTS? How many fucking MULTI-MILLIONAIRE whores are out there DAILY reading the nonsense econo-script for the express purpose of making it SEEM like it makes sense?

And people think TPTB AREN'T doing the same exact thing with the farcical nonsensical POLITICAL SYSTEM?!!!All of the exact same types of shows, metrics, op-eds, etc etc etc?

How about when the two fantasy worlds meet? Obviously the GDP/GNP - like ALL economic indicators - have been a bunch of fucking horseshit for DECADES but all of a sudden people BELIEVE them just because they're BAD?!!They were fucking bullshit when they told us they were positive NOW we're supposed to buy into the narrative that they're JUST TERRIBLE and that this is just TERRIBLE news for Obama. Hold me, I'm so frightened!

Well, why would TPTB make up bad numbers, JSore?

Gee, I don't know because maybe those numbers and all the rest of the pseudocrap serve THEIR PURPOSES which we peons don't see quite clearly because - gee, whiz - WE ARE NOT THEM!!! cf. the before the fact, retarded predictions about how the Iraq War was going to turn out by CAREER MIC men such as Cheney and Rumsfeld.

Yeah, all the economic news might be complete fucking horseshit but, boy, that Rachel Maddow and John Stewart sure keep us informed and savvy to their political tricks, those wily devils!!!!

Thank god, Nate Silver is around to break down the poll numbers for us.

Jesus F Christ. Later.

Posted by: JSorrentine | Jun 27 2014 22:47 utc | 44

Seamus,

The split of Iraq is a neocon wishful thinking. After a honeymoon, the Kurds will find out that the Turks are opportunistic, unreliable and only interested in making money to preserve the popular power of the AKP Moslem Brotherhood regime.
The Kurdistan is already plagued by corruption as too much money is in hands of a few greedy business men, mostly with a US citizenship. No one cares about the poor Kurds. Iraqi ethnic Kurds have no Arab friends in the region.

The majority of the city-dwellers Iraqi Sunnis will be totally disgusted by the ISIS and ex-Baathist Islamic ruling that is the only visible alternative to the moderate ruling of Al Malaki.
Like in Egypt, a year to taste an authoritarian Islamic regime and everyone would call any secular dictator back.
After a few crisis, like in Syria, Iraq will remain united whether Israel and the USA wants it or not.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 27 2014 23:10 utc | 45

Complete madness.

Despite failure after failure after failure, the US continues to create and sustain foreign policy disasters.

Does the US just think it needs to be seen as doing something, anything? Even in the face of domestic public opposition?

I don't believe even the promotion of Zionism can explain it all.

Posted by: sleepy | Jun 27 2014 23:46 utc | 46

Posted by b on June 27, 2014 at 11:49 AM | Permalink

"The biggest danger for civilians and the Free Syrian Army, who's official heads have just (again) been fired for graft, are not the government forces but the Jihadists."

This doesn't make much sense. The FSA exists only as a "paper" army of a few yes men outside of Syria who basically just sit around a table for the presstitute western media to photograph them. "Jihadists" are no threat to them. But true, they are a major threat to civilians in and near Syria. The western cannibal mercs ("jihadists") are being gradually pushed into oblivion. One of the reasons Israel decided it was time to have their western toys spread their cannibal mercs into Iraq. SyrPer describing the latest news:

http://www.syrianperspective.com/2014/06/terrorists-finished-in-latakia-and-al-maleeha.html TERRORISTS FINISHED IN LATAKIA AND AL-MALEEHA

Posted by: scalawag | Jun 28 2014 1:14 utc | 47

@ 45

It only 'appears to be a failure' ~ chaos and destruction is the objective.

"...I don't believe even the promotion of Zionism can explain it all." Sleepy

Really? May this will help you wake up - via Voltaire Network

“The machiavelian threefold game of the neoconservatives”

by Laurent Guyénot

To realize their fantasies of world domination, the neocons resorted to a triple discourse, as Laurent Guyénot shows in this study, i.e. a cynical political philosophy developed by their mentor Leo Strauss for domestic consumption; a cold analysis of Israeli strategic interests for the benefit of the leaders in Tel Aviv, and a fear-mongering warning against imaginary dangers besetting U.S. public opinion.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article178638.html

It's quite a long read, but then that's what makes it so informative.

Posted by: crone | Jun 28 2014 1:19 utc | 48

Struggle of power between the two puppets: Jarba representing Saudi Arabia vs Ahmad Tohme representing Qatar

Decision to Sack Syria Rebel Command Reversed

World | Agence France-Presse
Beirut: A decision by Syria's opposition government to sack the military command of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) over corruption allegations has been reversed by the National Coalition chief.
....
But hours later, the Syrian National Coalition led by Ahmad Jarba said in a statement the "head of the interim government has exceeded his powers".

It said it had decided to "instruct the General Council to comment on this abuse of power at its next meeting and to take the appropriate action".

The next General Council meeting will be in Istanbul from July 4 to 6.

"This crisis reflects the conflict in the coalition and is in a regional context. Qatar supports the government of President Ahmad Tohme and Ahmad Jarba is close to Saudi Arabia," a senior coalition official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

The official said Jarba must stand down at the next council meeting because he cannot serve more than two terms.

"He wants to prepare to keep control. It seems he plans to form a High Council of the Syrian Revolution, a military body which he will chair and will have no relationship with the opposition government," he added.

In order to do so, the official said, Jarba would demand a vote of confidence and a new government chief, and Tohme decided to pre-empt the move.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/decision-to-sack-syria-rebel-command-reversed-549325?curl=1403920212

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 28 2014 1:55 utc | 49

"Properly vetted"? I imagine it'll be something more like the scene from Blazing Saddles, every steretypical villain lined up in the desert to sign up for the raid. Only not funny.

Posted by: Colinjames | Jun 28 2014 2:49 utc | 50

US/Israeli aims -

1. Continued instability in Syria.

2. Force continued Irani support - quagmire.

3. ditto Russia.

Posted by: chet380 | Jun 28 2014 2:50 utc | 51

arming any sort of rebel let alone alqaeda is a crime....imagine if Syria armed US rebels against the brutal Obama regime?! the outcry

Posted by: brian | Jun 28 2014 3:11 utc | 52

http://tinyurl.com/n7g2gnr June 27th IRAQ SITREP by Mindfriedo

"27th June: Maliki has ordered military aircraft from the Russians which he expects will be delivered in two to three days. It remains a mystery who will fly these planes, Iraqis, Syrians, Russians, Iranians, US Advisors. Regarding the purchase of US aircraft Maliki stated "I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract [with the US]”.

What Maliki said is what everybody eventually realizes about the USA. A country of the crooks, by the crooks, for the crooks.

Posted by: scalawag | Jun 28 2014 3:13 utc | 53

@scalawag #52:

Why did you give a link using tinyurl? That's for nOObs. You already know how to give links properly using html.

If I see a link on a web page, I want to be able to see the actual web address, as I can by placing the cursor over the link. With tinyurl, I have to actually follow the link to see what it points to. Not good.

Posted by: Demian | Jun 28 2014 3:49 utc | 54

Posted by: Demian | Jun 27, 2014 11:49:19 PM | 53

Net nanny is only one rung away from the lowest - which is New York waiter.

Posted by: scalawag | Jun 28 2014 4:01 utc | 55

JS @ 40 & 43: Absolute truth, with an expletive flare, I for one, love it.

b, hope you don't ever charge us for the education and therapy this site provides.

Posted by: ben | Jun 28 2014 6:26 utc | 56

scalawag @52, "I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract [with the US]”.Maliki should have known how treacherous the US is, to that extent he is incompetent, if he was such a good customer for the US arms industry, then the US could have loaned him some of the many F16,s the US has in bases all over the middle east. The truth is those jets [which had been paid for] were never going to arrive. Iraq, just like Syria,Iran and Hez in Lebanon are part of the "Arc of extremism" and so the US will never give them arms other than to suppress internal dissent. The last I heard, the Lebanese air force had 2 Hawker Hunter jets[ex RAF from the 1950,s]. To the US, the Sunni are the only game in town, unfortunately for the US, the Sunni dictators have one view which the Sunni masses don't share, this will become apparent when the Jihadists cut their heads off for smoking or listening to music.

Posted by: harry law | Jun 28 2014 7:13 utc | 57

The US has realized that it can no longer be a proper hegemon. It can no longer get its way. Thus, like a jealous middle son, it would rather break the toy than try to share. Throwing a fit as it obliterates what he knows cannot be his...but also knowing that whomever tries to play with it is fucked. This is what pepe escobar calls the empire of chaos: not mine...then nobody's. If I am on the way of not being able to come on top (more and more) then nobody will. And whomever has the ambition (their mindset cannot fathom that maybe no other country is so egocentric as to have the same mindst) then I will break it all.
Again...my 3 year old pest of a nephew has the same impulses.

Posted by: -yan | Jun 28 2014 9:11 utc | 58

The 'moderate' rebels are fighting along the Al Nusra franchise of Al Qaeda against the ISIS franchise . Both franchises are labelled as terrorist groups by the Turkey and the USA.


BEIRUT: Syrian rebels and Al-Qaeda launched a counter-offensive Saturday to expel the Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from Albu Kamal town on the Iraq border, a monitor said.

The operation came just days after some fighters from Al-Qaeda's Syria franchise, Al-Nusra Front, pledged loyalty to ISIL in Albu Kamal, after it led an offensive in Iraq and seized chunks of territory

But not all Al-Nusra fighters defected and those who refused to submit to the jihadist group joined forces with other Syrian rebel groups to launch the counter-offensive.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/37389531.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 28 2014 11:38 utc | 59

If ISIS dangerously expands in Iraq and attacks Jordan, Turkey or Saudi Arabia then the USA will be obliged to get involved more seriously. It could start a regional war in the region as forecasted by the Syrian government right from the start of the rebellion.
The main beneficiary may be the Syrian government as most of the international attention will be on fighting the "terrorists". The 'moderate' rebels association with Al Qaeda makes them accomplices and they will get the same fate as their partners.
The USA is sending the 500 millions $ to buy the 'moderates' an "honorable" exit.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 28 2014 11:55 utc | 60

What Amal Saad Ghorayab says:

"Resistance versus Jihad is the new faultline in the region. It has now become patently obvious that the US is manipulating and instrumentalizing takfiri jihadism to defeat the Resistance. The hope is that ISIS can achieve what decades of Zionist aggression failed to deliver, by means of a policy of implosion, fragmentation and [strategically employed] terror, dealt by a heavily sectarianized Islamism which is devoid of any anti-imperialist content.

Forget Clinton's infamous "we created al-Qaeda" quote, and Seymour Hersh's 2007 exposé of the US-Saudi role in funding al-qaeda affiliated militants in Lebanon, several developments this week reveal that ISIS has effectively become the US' (and of course Saudi's) new weapon of choice in confronting the Iran-Hizbullah-Syria-Iraq Axis:

Obama acknowledges that the notion of a "ready-made moderate Syrian force that was able to defeat Assad" was a "fantasy", and only days later, requests $500 million from Congress to fund this fantasy; the following day, the leader of one of the leading "moderate" Islamist groups Obama was alluding to, the Syrian Revolutionary Front, tells The Independent that the fight against al-Qaeda was “not our problem” and admits that his fighters conduct joint operations with al-Qaeda's representative in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra; a Kurdish intelligence source reveals to The Telegraph that his people had informed the US and British governments of an imminent ISIS takeover of Mosul but that the warning "fell on deaf ears;" PM Maliki blames the US' delayed delivery of 36 F16s Iraq had purchased for ISIS' advance into northern and western Iraq; Netanyahu warns Obama against military intervention in Iraq, arguing “when your enemies are fighting one another , don’t strengthen either one of them. Weaken both;” ISIS declares war on Lebanon.

The facts speak for themselves."

Posted by: h | Jun 28 2014 13:53 utc | 61

Yeah, all the economic news might be complete fucking horseshit but, boy, that Rachel Maddow and John Stewart sure keep us informed and savvy to their political tricks, those wily devils!!!! - from a Sorrentine rant, at 43.

The softie-left and fake-progressives ohh yes they are duplicitous cynical careerists and know exactly what they are doing and do if for personal gain and status with no compunction, they are paid to proclaim fantastic crap to keep certain fictions alive and shore up a barrier against the pitchforks.

They are, nonetheless, low -man and often -woman (thinking of France here) on the pole, and they feel sore about it, despite the money splash and accolades. yet keep mum.

They fulfil an essential function, but can’t reach the financial compensation of bankers, day traders, CEOs of Corps, or any real powerful role, or even the possibility of entering politics. Not that they will rebel because of that, court jesters generally have nowhere to go once tossed n the slag heap.

They know they are expendable and a thousand ppl wait to take their place. That makes them edgy as well, they know there is no career *after*, the line to be toed is subtle, and watched minute by minute. So perform, perform.

Posted by: Noirette | Jun 28 2014 14:56 utc | 62

The USA have always used the same tactic that ultimately turns against them. Turkey is doing the same. They use cheap criminals and mercenaries to do their dirty job because having body bags of dead americans or turks returning from the front is not popular in their country and may shake their power. As there are lots on uneducated and poor Moslems that are easily convinced to become fighters or kamikaze, recruitment is easy. In addition instead of crying when they die, their family rejoice!

Of course the US and Turkey believe that they can manipulate these mercenaries by providing them funds when they are useful or use other country army or other mercenaries to destroy them when they are not needed anymore.
The Islamist fighters in Syria were paid by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, glad not to have to send their weak army to topple Bashar Al Assad.
The trouble is that now these mercenaries have developed a religious ideology and they are not ready to just be obedient mercenaries.

Therefore they mean trouble. So they must be destroyed. Who will do that? Not the precious US Army or the well equipped Turkish Army. No, is the weak Iraqi army and Shia fighters ready to die for their country. The US and Turkey applaude and are ready to provide needed weapons and money as long as they are not asked to send troops.
They just don't give a damn how many of these fighters will die.
Its the result that counts: protecting the US and its allies from Al Qaeda.

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 28 2014 16:32 utc | 63

http://tinyurl.com/mqq3qud Two short/long analyses by Mindfriedo

Was the fall of Mosul good for the Shia militias?
and
Are the Sunnis/Wahabi tougher than the Shia?

"Till early 2014, the Americans were putting pressure on Maliki to reign in Shia militias. The argument was that they could destabilize his government, they were proxies of Iran, and were getting combat experience in Syria. The Iraqi government formed brigades like the Wolf (Being led by Abu Al Walid, the commander fighting in Tal Afar), Tiger and Scorpion to counter the threat these militias could pose and primarily as a tool to keep Sunnis in check. Other measures included closing the Iraqi border with Syria and suspending direct flights. Both these measures at the time seemed to target Sunni Jihadist but were in fact meant to restrict the flow of Shia fighters. Maliki was also half hearted in his attempts. And the latter was a token gesture on the part of the Iraqi government as flights between Iran and Damascus were ongoing. The American threat to create a no fly zone over Syria was meant to stop these flights. The current surveillance flights over Iraq and the taking over of Iraq -Syria land border by Jihadist is also meant to stop this flow of Shia fighters."

Also, recent events:

http://tinyurl.com/nzff8dm June 28th IRAQ SITREP by Mindfriedo

Posted by: scalawag | Jun 28 2014 19:08 utc | 64

Russia will not stand idly by in the face of terrorism in Iraq,Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said. "Russia will not remain passive to the attempts by some groups to spread terrorism in the region," Ryabkov told journalists after meeting with President Bashar al-Assad.

"The situation is very dangerous in Iraq and the foundations of the Iraqi state are under threat," he said. Ryabkov also reiterated Moscow's position that the crises in Syria and Iraq must be resolved "through a genuine national dialogue".

Asked about Washington's decision to support “moderate rebels” in Syria, Ryabkov said: "There can be no alternative to a political solution." He added: "We reject this US policy. It is in everybody's interest, including the Americans, to act responsibly on Syria." http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=158827&cid=22&fromval=1&frid=22&seccatid=45&s1=1

Posted by: harry law | Jun 28 2014 19:18 utc | 65

http://tinyurl.com/m7uz2hz RETIRED SYRIAN PILOTS FLYING SUKHOIS FOR IRAQ

"The Iraqi government has wasted no time asserting its air supremacy by purchasing close to 90 Sukhoi-25 Fencers multi-role bombers from the Russian Federation and Belarus. But who is going to pilot the jets? Enter 400 retired Syrian Air Force pilots trained to fly Sukhois who will complement a few Iranians. SyrPer has learned that the Iraqi government is paying top dollar for these experienced pilots whose role will be to provide air cover for advancing Iraqi army forces and devastating fire power against the hordes of U.S.-sponsored, -funded and -trained ISIS terrorists infesting brotherly Iraq. I have been informed that even active-duty Syrian pilots will be involved in orienting the retired officers to the topography and geography of Iraq.

Don’t believe any story about U.S. drones flying in Iraqi air space to provide Intel for the Iraqi armed forces. The Syrian government has already warned Mr. Al-Maliki that those drones will be used to improve the military position of ISIS before any useful information will be forwarded to Iraqi Army HQ.

We have no details about how much Iraq is paying for its new pilots, but, it must be quite a sum and the obligations are extremely urgent and important.

The U.S., tied to its bankrupt relationship with the Zionist Khazar Apartheid Entity, is unable to play anything but a negative role in the evolution of this attack on the sovereignty and dignity of the Iraqi Republic.

We at SyrPer are proud to know that experienced Syrian pilots are dominating the air over the Land of the Two Great Rivers and that their role will be decisive in blunting the effects of the NATO re-invasion of independent, sovereign Iraq.

Here are the reports coming in from these areas:"

Posted by: scalawag | Jun 28 2014 19:31 utc | 66

As long as chaos is the state of affairs, it's good for Israel that dictates what to do to the US government. What we are seeing is a spectacular realization of the israeli Yinnon Plan (published in 1980), itself inspired from the Nazi (no wonder, Zionists are their brothers) General Ost Plan drafted by Alfred Rosenberg during WWII, which aimed at dominating eastern Europe by steering constant infighting within the different ethnic and religious groups there.
This being said, the idiots we have in our western governement should realise that by giving more weapons to the mercenaries, many of these fall in the hands of the Lebanese resistance (mainly the Hezbollah). Indeed, western politicians only deal with crooks and criminals (like themselves, as a matter of fact), and these are so corrupt that they go and sell the weapons to the best buyer...

Posted by: MC | Jun 28 2014 21:03 utc | 67

The war between ISIS and Al Nusra allied with "moderates rebels" is getting close to the capital as car bombs explode in the rebel-held area of Douma.

DAMASCUS: A car bomb exploded in a busy market in a rebel-held suburb ( Douma) of the Syrian capital on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding dozens ....

The Observatory and an activist in the nearby suburb of Saqba who goes by the name of Abu Yazan said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)is believed to be behind the blast, because of a rivalry with other rebel groups in the area.

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/b58352ad-2995-4f2b-a46b-e9915d5d72ec.aspx


Posted by: Virgile | Jun 28 2014 21:11 utc | 68

If the feather rises above a certain predetermined angle whilst he's viewing a beheading video and or photos — or a video showing the nuclear annihilation of Israel or Jews being gassed and shoveled into ovens, he doesn't make the cut (pun intended).

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 27, 2014 1:18:18 PM | 9

Congealed Q. HogFarts spins out absolutely every single western propaganda line it is possible to do. Everyone knows that these Takfiri fanatics have shown absolutely zero interest in the repression of the Palestinian people or making any move against Israel in general. But why would they? After all, they're getting treated in Israeli hospitals and supplied with Israeli weapons.

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 29 2014 0:06 utc | 69

The USA have always used the same tactic that ultimately turns against them. Turkey is doing the same. They use cheap criminals and mercenaries to do their dirty job

At least since the US began working with European mafias and South East Asian criminal gangs, this has been true. In fact, nearly every regime that the US propped up in its anti-Communist crusade seemed to be a mingling of criminal elements and local business.

The regime in South Vietnam was composed of corrupt criminals to a man (which is not to excuse the equally criminal wives of those gangsters) and the US primarily used criminals released from Saigon jails as its death squads and torturers during the years of the Phoenix Program.

The record is clear - Alfred McCoy's The Politics of Heroin in South East Asia, Douglas Valentine's The Phoenix Program, Gary Webb's Dark Alliance, these are three good books which expose the issue I know of... But we shouldn't be surprised: that's what free market capitalism means - the greediest and most violent rise to the top. The law is meaningless except as a set of rules to protect the prerogatives of the powerful.

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 29 2014 0:28 utc | 70

Five Sukhoi-25 planes arrive in Baghdad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zr3fnVXC4U

Posted by: Paul | Jun 29 2014 0:37 utc | 71

@70 Obama announces Manpad sale to ISIS.

Posted by: dh | Jun 29 2014 0:43 utc | 72

Oh hahaha: "Kerry: Syrian moderate rebels could help in Iraq"

Posted by: guest77 | Jun 29 2014 2:10 utc | 73

The still unresolved kidnapping of 80 diplomats in Mossoul exposes Turkey's lack of allies in the region. Turkey's foreign policy has been "zero problems with neighbors", it is now "zero neighbors".

Today, Turkey is struggling to find a reliable partner in the region to cooperate with as its immediate neighbor Iraq risks being dragged into a sectarian war and another immediate neighbor, Syria, is being turned into a failed state.

Turkey's foreign policy choices in recent years have led it to become the odd man out in the region as it has preferred to pursue a policy of “burning bridges” rather than “agreeing to disagree” on disputed issues with regional countries.

Starting with Egypt, Ankara is at odds with Cairo since the overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, last July.

This week, the Turkish government accused Egypt of deliberately destabilizing Libya, where hundreds of Turkish citizens are being evacuated after a threat from retired Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a renegade general fighting insurgents in the east of the country.

Turkey has been one of the harshest critics of the Egyptian coup. The Turkish government's strident rhetoric regarding the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leader has not only harmed his relations with Egypt but also with other Arab nations, particularly the Gulf states.

But the Gulf countries are not only concerned about the Turkish government's close ties with the MB in Egypt. They are also watching relations with Hamas, an offshoot of the MB.

Turkey has lost a strong ally like Egypt in the region at a time when Turkey is already under stress due to the ongoing war in Syria and has cold relations with both Iraq and Iran. Besides this, Turkey losing the Gulf states as an ally due to its Egypt policy was another backlash for Turkey.

Although Qatar emerges as the most reliable partner to Turkey in its support for the MB, the two countries do not enjoy very close relations as in the era of former Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who unexpectedly abdicated last year in favor of his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim, a situation that has placed a big question mark over the future of the alliance. Turkey and Qatar, so far, have also adopted a similar stance regarding the Syrian conflict in the diplomatic sphere.

Needless to say, Turkey's ties with Syria have already reached a point that seems irreparable. The main problem in Turkey's Syria policy, according to analysts, is putting a plan to oust President Bashar al-Assad's regime at the top of the country's foreign policy priorities.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-351450-crisis-in-region-may-push-turkey-to-search-for-allies.html

Posted by: Virgile | Jun 29 2014 2:58 utc | 74

It appears that DAASH will inherit a sizeable air force from the failed Shia government in Iraq. I imagine there will be many volunteers to fly these aircraft against Assad's regime and eventually against the Israeli Air Force. Air Power won't decide these conflicts but it will make interesting film footage for Western News.

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 29 2014 3:04 utc | 75

Daash flying fighter Jets. That's very funny.

Posted by: hilmi hakim | Jun 29 2014 7:36 utc | 76

Right hilmi hakim... can't decide which is funnier Kerry's remark @ 72,
or Wayoutwest's comment @ 74 (who's to say there will be a failed Shia gov't in Iraq?
If the US keeps their nose out (now, that's a real laugh!!!) ...

Posted by: crone | Jun 29 2014 7:47 utc | 77

Posted by: Wayoutwest | Jun 28, 2014 11:04:08 PM | 74

I am sure Russia (and China) will find a way to prevent this.

By the way, are you sure anyone is in control of ISIS/knows what ISIS plans to do? The leadership is from Camp Bucca, right?

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a815fb72-44ab-11dd-b151-0000779fd2ac.html#ixzz360mfsSZx

Surveying the structure, Stone could be the mayor of a small city. And in a sense, he is. Camp Bucca, which is named after a New York City fireman who died on September 11 2001, is said to be Iraq's 63rd-largest community. It is the third-largest forward operating base in Iraq, and the only place south of Baghdad with continuous electrical power. "I'm told it's bigger than 78 per cent of all American cities," Stone says with pride. He is the Commanding General of Task Force 134 (Detainee Operations), charged with overseeing the coalition's 19,000 detainees here at Camp Bucca, and another 3,000 held at Camp Cropper near Baghdad. By comparison, the US holds 630 detainees at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan and 275 at Guantanamo Bay.
...
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An imperial city like this - guarded by an occupying army whose legitimacy has been in the balance since the prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib in 2004 - is an unlikely place to test the claim that a more humane military is a more effective one. But, then, Stone is an unlikely commander. A Marine reservist who made a fortune in Silicon Valley before taking a doctorate in public administration, he is now fanatical about winning what he calls "the battlefield of the mind".
...
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Since arriving in Iraq, he has instituted significant changes to coalition detention centres, including new review boards which explain to detainees why they are being held and what they can do about it; a pledge-and-guarantor programme whereby soon-to-be-released detainees swear in front of a judge that they will not return to the fight; increased family visits to the prisons; education programmes, including maths, Arabic and English classes; vocational training programmes; and religious discussion classes, where privately hired sheikhs discuss the Koran with detainees.
...
Seen from above, the 20-odd compounds of the Bucca camp have a clinical stillness that befits what goes on below: what Stone calls his massive "social experiment", and what his critics call the world's largest religious re-education camp.
...
In the 1990s, after he graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and at the same time that he "bounced in and out of" several tech firms and acquired hundreds of acres of northern California's wine country, Stone was working towards a doctorate in public administration at the University of Southern California. His dissertation is a study of international non-government networks, which he said would wield power by relying on "information operations and perception management... to attract rather than coerce".

There is much more fascinating stuff in the article on how to create "moderate Muslims" and isolate "extreme cases" - read for yourself. To think you can control a brainwash like that once released on the ground is madness.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 7:50 utc | 78

Additional twist - US oil companies signing deals directly with Kurdistan

Senator Schumer predicted that the investigation “may finally help us get to the bottom of the Bush administration’s role in the awarding of oil contracts in Iraq.”

“If, as alleged, the State Department misrepresented U.S. policy to companies like Hunt, that is highly troubling,” he added. “But this probe may shed light on an even more explosive possibility — that the administration undermined U.S. policy by actively helping Iraq smooth the way for these deals.”

Among the documents disclosed earlier this month by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was an e-mail message from a senior Hunt official who stated that he was told by State Department officials in June 2007 that the American government did not object to contracts with the Kurdish regional government.

“I specifically asked if the U.S.G. had a policy toward companies entering contracts with the K.R.G.,” according to the message from the Hunt official, David McDonald, which was sent to a colleague a few weeks after the Sept. 8 deal with the Kurds. The State Department officials, he said, stated that there was no policy, neither for nor against.

He added in the e-mail message: “There was no communication to me or in my presence made by the nine State Department officials with whom I met prior to 8 September that Hunt should not pursue our course of action leading to a contract. In fact, there was ample opportunity to do so, but it did not happen.”

and from 2012 - Analysis: Implications of the Chevron KRG deal

In reaction to Chevron’s purchase of two oil blocks in the Kurdish region of Iraq, the central government’s Oil Ministry has disqualified the US supermajor from future contracts in the rest of the country.

"In accordance with Oil Ministry policy based on the constitution, the Oil Ministry announces the disqualification of Chevron company and bars it from signing any deals with the federal Oil Ministry and its companies," Iraq’s Oil Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.

Going further, the Ministry said Chevron should feel “ashamed” at having “totally failed the test” of its reputation and credibility.

Chevron announced on 19 July that it will buy Reliance Exploration & Production's 80% interest and operatorship of the production sharing contracts (PSCs) covering the Rovi and Sarta blocks. The blocks are located north of Erbil and cover a combined area of approximately 490 square miles (1,124 square kilometers).

So official US policy backs the central Iraqi government but private US companies sign contracts against this policy.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 8:44 utc | 79

More amazing facts on Camp Bucca

Perhaps the education programs' true center of gravity lies in the Islamic discussion program. There, vetted Iraqi clerics employ a moderate exegesis of the Qur'an to encourage debate and refute extremist arguments. Ironically, most insurgents are not devout. Polling of the population has revealed that, prior to detention, more than 70 percent of detainees were not fastidious mosque-goers; in fact, 36 percent had never even set foot in one.[27] On other questions about piety, responses did not reflect stringent or immoderate beliefs. Even mid-level members of Al-Qaeda and the Shi'ite Mahdi Army at times exhibited few signs of religious fervor.

On the surface, such information would seem to render moot the utility of such a program.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 9:04 utc | 80

and this

Nearly half of the foreign detainees held in Iraq are Saudi citizens, and lists of their names were given to Saudi officials during a recent visit by an Iraqi delegation, national security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie said in remarks aired Monday. Al-Rubaie's comments to Al-Arabiya television were made during a three-day visit last week to Saudi Arabia in which he met senior officials, including Interior Minister Prince Nayef.

"The Iraqi government says that nearly half of the foreigners in Iraqi prisoners are from Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of them are in Camp Bucca and other prisons controlled by coalition forces," al-Rubaie said. He did not give a total figure of Saudi detainees.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 9:31 utc | 81

His dissertation is a study of international non-government networks, which he said would wield power by relying on "information operations and perception management... to attract rather than coerce".

Isn't this precisely what ISIS is? If so, maybe he provided all the detainees with a copy of his thesis before releasing them and they hit the ground running with it. Build it and they will come. Or, maybe this was the purpose of Camp Mother Bucca all along — an updated 21st century School of the Americas situated strategically in war-torn Iraq.

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 29 2014 11:36 utc | 82

So official US policy backs the central Iraqi government but private US companies sign contracts against this policy.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29, 2014 4:44:08 AM | 79

Yes, similar to what American Big Oil's doing in Russia by courting Putin in defiance of the sentiment of sanctions.

Exxon Doing Russia Business as Usual Amid U.S. Sanctions

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), which this month extended its partnership with Russia’s OAO Rosneft (ROSN), hasn’t had to change its business in the country amid Ukraine-related sanctions and said such steps are typically ineffective.

“We don’t find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented,” Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson said today during a shareholders meeting in Dallas. Authorities imposing the sanctions should consider “who are they really harming?”

Exxon is among American oil producers that ignored U.S. State Department recommendations to skip an energy forum in St. Petersburg last week as it extended a pact with Rosneft involving drilling for crude in the Arctic and Siberia. Exxon, through a 2011 deal with the state-run crude producer, owns drilling rights across 11.4 million acres of Russian land, including vast swaths of the Kara Sea.

More at link

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 29 2014 11:48 utc | 83

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 29, 2014 7:36:39 AM | 82

Frankly, I think stupid American kids reinvented a square wheel.
The civilizational experience of the place they tried that on stretches for close to 4000 years - compare to 3-400 years of United States.

A tribal network does beat facebook easily - and Sykes-Picot - and no, religion has no role in it.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 11:56 utc | 84

and no, religion has no role in it.

Stupid American kids? Give me a clear profile of that characterization. Are you imagining a person of White privilege — of Anglo, Germanic or overall European descent? Think again, if so, and update your memes, because if that's your stereotypical view than you're as delusional as those who come to America on the basis of some perpetuated mythology that it's somehow exceptional. The incessant criticism of America is also exceptional in its own right.

I'll have a blog post up this week entitled Coming To America that will cover this and more. It's a tribute to you and your ilk who go out of your way to make America the exception it so clearly is, depending on one's perception and how much time they spend cultivating that perception and perspective.

As for religion, of course it has something to do with it. Islam usurped all that you speak of as it relates to the Arab world and incorporated it into its constraining paradigm. Those networks still exist, but they've been subsumed into the human potential smothering reach of Islam.

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 29 2014 13:34 utc | 85

simply lost in translation

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 13:58 utc | 86

simply lost in translation

Irony much? Isn't Wired the brainchild of "stupid American kids reinventing a square wheel?" And yet you rely on it as evidence in determining your misguided view of what's really going on in Iraq.

Wired (magazine) — From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and another brainchild of "stupid American kids reinventing a square wheel"

The magazine was founded by American journalist Louis Rossetto and his partner Jane Metcalfe in 1993 with initial backing from software entrepreneur Charlie Jackson and eclectic academic Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab, who was a regular columnist for six years, through 1998 and wrote the book Being Digital. The founding designers were John Plunkett and Barbara Kuhr (Plunkett+Kuhr), beginning with a 1991 prototype and continuing through the first five years of publication, 1993–98.

Wired, which touted itself as "the Rolling Stone of technology,"[6] made its debut at the Macworld conference on January 2, 1993.[7] A great success at its launch, it was lauded for its vision, originality, innovation and cultural impact.[citation needed] In its first four years, the magazine won two National Magazine Awards for General Excellence and one for Design.

The founding executive editor of Wired, Kevin Kelly, was formerly one of the editors of the Whole Earth Catalog and the Whole Earth Review, and he brought with him many contributing writers from those publications. Six authors of the first Wired issue (1.1) had written for Whole Earth Review, most notably Bruce Sterling (who was highlighted on the first cover[8] ) and Stewart Brand. Other contributors to Whole Earth appeared in Wired, including William Gibson, who was featured on Wired's cover in its first year and whose article "Disneyland with the Death Penalty" in issue 1.4 resulted in the publication being banned in Singapore.[9]

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 29 2014 14:30 utc | 87

Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Jun 29, 2014 10:30:46 AM | 87
sure irony.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 14:54 utc | 88

@ 78 - and so on

Somebody, best be careful... even those you have managed to fool might see your true nature.

the AEI is such a wonderful source...

Posted by: crone | Jun 29 2014 17:24 utc | 89

Posted by: crone | Jun 29, 2014 1:24:06 PM | 89

As I said, madness.

Posted by: somebody | Jun 29 2014 17:42 utc | 90

Webster G. Tarpley, Ph.D.
Coast to Coast AM
June 29, 2014

Centennial of World War I Outbreak: Are We in July 1914 Right Now?

http://tarpley.net/centennial-of-world-war-i-outbreak/

Posted by: Paty Kerry | Jun 30 2014 5:22 utc | 91

"Stupid American kids? Give me a clear profile of that characterization."

What's not clear about "american" and "kids"? Stupid is the obvious part.

Posted by: T2015 | Jun 30 2014 13:42 utc | 92

Just saying that it's so nice to find that citizens use to be wiser by far than their gov. worldwide. Here in Spain, as well as in most european countries AFAIK, most people can't understand what's going on nowadays, me in that number, given some trendy beliefs:

Russia was, is and will be forever evil, so western must support all sorts of worse devils to deal with it.

Jiyadists and all sort of fanatics are much better than Assad. Same here with previous lessons taken from Libya, Iraq, Afganistan vs. Russia...

I, as a plain citizen who lives much closer to those countries, have never been worried of Putin, Assad and alike, despite their own citizens surely have reasons to, but fascists and religious fanatics really make me worry. I know no ateist, christian, jude, etc. that would kill me if I don't embrace their "true" god. Same here with russians: I've been in many countries all over eastern Europe and I found that racism and nationalism are common in most ex-sovietic countries rather than in Russia.

So, with most conflicts/wars/you-name-it I have the feeling that the US and their affiliates are on the wrong side in most cases since decades ago, despite media insists in convince me that the one who's wrong it's me.

BTW, I hope you don't mind to be linked from a couple sites from here.

Posted by: mariano | Jul 7 2014 3:26 utc | 93

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