Iraq: A Russian Alternative To Washington's Bumbling Anti-IS Campaign
The U.S. has been pressing Iraq to accept its orders on how to fight the Islamic State. It prohibited the use of quite effective, though mostly Shia, Hashd al-Shabi militia against IS in Ramadi and other places and instead wants to (again) retrain a hopelessly useless Iraqi army and a few tribal Sunni militia. The U.S. also held back long ordered weapons for the Iraqi army and air force and its bombing campaign against IS targets in Iraq is rather lackluster. By accident Hashd al-Shabi militia attacking IS positions have been hit by U.S. air strikes several times.
The public opinion in Iraq is that the U.S. has (again) nefarious aims and is neither committed to a united and sovereign Iraq nor to eradicating the Islamic State.
But now Russia offers an alternative. An intelligence operations room was opened in Baghdad in which Iraq, Iran, Syria, Russia and Hizbullah (the 4+1) develop and exchange intelligence about the Islamic State and possible targets for coming attacks. It looks pretty bad for the U.S. to not be trusted enough to take part in it.
But that is not enough yet. After Russia started its anti-terrorist air campaign in Syria yesterday despite U.S. protests it is now setting the mark even higher. Against a onslaught of dumb U.S. propaganda it is expertly trolling the U.S. over its lack of legitimacy:
Micah Zenko
LOL Lavrov, "We are polite people, as you know. We don't come if not invited." bbc.in/1PQf8IA
Lavrov also trolled the U.S. by making an offer to Iraq and that offer was received rather friendly. From my feed timeline:
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak
Reuters: Russian foreign ministry says it would consider any request from #Iraq to conduct airstrikes against Islamic State in IraqElijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai
#Russia informed #Baghdad inofficially ts readiness 2bomb #ISIS in #Iraq. I am not sure PM Haidar Abadi would dare 2ask for Russian support.Marc Perelman @mperelman
#Iraq Pm #Abadi @FRANCE24: #Putin told me Russia fighting #ISIS in Syria and I trust him, I'm open to Russian airstrikes vs Daech in IraqLoveday Morris @LovedayM
Abadi tells France24 there are no talks with Russia on strikes in #Iraq - yet. "If we get the offer we’ll consider it.. I would welcome it"Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai
Abadi wouldn't dare now. He is halting Hashd al-Shabi following a #USA request. I can't see U.S & Russia collaborating in Iraq
I for one can see Abadi changing horses. Why rely on the U.S. when all it does, preferring the Kurds and Sunni militia while holding back effective Shia militia, seems to be against a unified Iraq and when the U.S. fight against IS is at maximum halfhearted. But even if Abadi will not kick out the U.S. and invite the Russians he can at least use the Russian offer to pressure the U.S. into a different behavior. It now has to respects the will of the Iraqi government and must wages an effective war against IS. Or it can leave.
It is always good to have an alternative when negotiating with a superior partner. Abadi now has one. And Abadi isn't the only one who is interested to change horses:
The largest pro-Kurdish group fighting in Syria has said it is ready to co-operate with Moscow, after Russian jets began launching airstrikes in the country.After Russia began a series of 20 strikes in the north of the country on Wednesday night, the leader of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) called the move “an important step”.
Sipan Hemo, general commander of the YPG, told Russian news agency Sputnik that his fighters want to co-operate with Russia against the forces of Islamic State (IS).
...
In his statements to Sputnik [..] Hemo said he would support Russian strikes targeting al-Nusra Front as well as IS.“Russia should fight not only against IS, but also against al-Nusra. There is no difference between Nusra and IS – they are both al-Qaeda,” Hemo is quoted as saying.
It now seems that every U.S. "ally" on the ground, except the now finally acknowledged CIA trained friends-of-Nusra-and-IS, would prefer to work with Russia instead of working under hapless U.S. policies.
That is some well deserved egg in the face for the Obama administration and its duplicity within its anti-Syria and anti-IS campaign.
Posted by b on October 1, 2015 at 18:29 UTC | Permalink
next page »And Lebanon has been offered help by the Russians, via HA. They are covering the Levant in its entirety, leaving no stone untorned. Welcome to the multipolar world!!
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Oct 1 2015 18:55 utc | 2
thanks b.. hopefully Ghubar Shabih will read the emptywheel link caught within your comment here :
It now seems that every U.S. "ally" on the ground, except the now finally acknowledged now finally acknowledged CIA trained friends-of-Nusra-and-IS, would prefer to work with Russia instead of working under hapless U.S. policies.
Posted by: james | Oct 1 2015 19:22 utc | 4
US-backed Syrian rebels say they have been hit by Russian airstrikes...
Although the Obama administration defiantly vowed to continue its own bombing operations in Syria - and took umbrage at Russia’s insistence on Wednesday that the US ground its aircraft – the US military revealed on Thursday that it launched only a single airstrike in the wake of the Russian campaign. The strike, in Mar’a, north of Aleppo, destroyed two Isis excavators, according to the US Central Command.
By contrast, on 30 September, the US launched 21 airstrikes in neighbouring Iraq.
US "sheepdogs" herding ISIS across the border?
Posted by: nobody | Oct 1 2015 19:27 utc | 5
The real question is: when will the evil empire create a black flag event to foment anti-Russian propaganda?
Will it be soon? Or will there be a slower response?
The only thing we seem to have a real grip on is creating distractions ... and black flag events will happen. It is just a matter of time ...
Posted by: Rg an LG | Oct 1 2015 19:52 utc | 7
I expect the Outlaw Empire to be kicked out of Iraq again and very soon. Then it's plan to dismember the states of Southwest Asia and cobble together Greater Israel will finally be vanquished.
It will take time, but Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia will soon be liberated and finally allowed to begin their recovery and development. But we still have the big nut to crack--South Asia and its ongoing conflicts. If Pakistan and India cannot make peace, then Afghanistan will remain unsolved and thus threaten the Chinese and Russian development projects. Hopefully, the Russians and Chinese can broker that peace within the SCO. Solving Afghanistan will force the Outlaw Empire to finally remove its troops and close its last foothold in the region.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 1 2015 20:06 utc | 8
not a good day for who dares wins in toyota pick up truck.
4 helicopters not seeming to care about cia stingers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkKQrp86vWg
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 1 2015 20:07 utc | 9
Thanks b for your posting.
I agree with Rg an LG that the US will likely try something to regain the upper hand in the situation. Or maybe Israel will do something more criminal then their current attacks on the Aqsa Mosque and the almost 700 attacks on the Gaza strip since the "ceasefire" in 2014.
I want to see folks prosecuted for war crimes! I will be patient but persistent.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 1 2015 20:09 utc | 10
I guess Russia-Iran alliance is fully formed. Which means beginning of the end of Saudi Arabia as far as I am concerned.
Posted by: MMARR | Oct 1 2015 20:17 utc | 11
I'm sure someone's already said it, but it is amazing how neatly Putin has forestalled a US/UK attack on Asad. There's no chance now, though Cameron, at least, has been building up to it for weeks. Extensive propaganda presentations in the Guardian, at least, depicting Asad as evil, and how ISIS and Asad could be tackled in one go. It was obvious there was no real enthusiasm to attack ISIS, rather it was Asad as the evil one. All gone, out of the window. Nobody's going to dare to attack Asad by mistake now. Indeed Putin's completely reversed the situation. He is the one who can attack Nusra, and not only ISIS. Very neat trick.
Posted by: Laguerre | Oct 1 2015 20:18 utc | 12
Putin can claim the "War on Terror" only actually starts now, under the Russians.
- I wonder how many ISIL 'military parades' will be held held in towns that they conquer, and in broad daylight, now that Russian planes are in the skies ?
- How about the atrocious media coverage by the Russian bombing campaign in Syria against terrorists, and compare that to the Saudi massacreing over a hundred people by bombing a wedding in Yemen only a few days prior. Which is to say it got western media silence and therefore silent support for the ongoing slaughter in Yemen.
- And Lonewolf @ 2 got it. This is the beginning of the multipolar world, where that alternate military aspect is crucial for that multipolarity. And that so many parties are looking to wedge themselves out of the US empires orbit, looking for a serious military alternative that they are desperate for.
Posted by: tom | Oct 1 2015 20:18 utc | 13
Pave Hawk helicopters and search-and-rescue versions of the C-130 transport planes can hold a lot of corpse men.
evac of the cia honky tonks body baggedlegless or marching on board home to langley and tel aviv and the empire of the city of london.
poor britam defence,g4s,serco and mitre corp elite golani brigade had it all to play for and got treated like a gazan child
The newly arrived aircraft would be used for military rescues or other emergencies
U.S. sends rescue-aircraft and 300 air force troops to Turkey
http://ekurd.net/us-air-force-troops-arrive-turkey-2015-09-30
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 1 2015 20:21 utc | 14
Won't the fight against Islamic State look sectarian if Hashd al-Shabi militias are primarily used, or this Russian coalition has only Shia dominated partners? Wouldn't Sunnis then be inclined to rally behind IS and al-Qaeda groups when they wouldn't otherwise if the opposition didn't appear Shia dominated? What is Hashd al-Shabi's record regarding the treatment of Sunni civilians anyway?
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Oct 1 2015 20:22 utc | 15
Ok, I'm going to say it. Elephant in the room: From the footage that I've seen, Russian airstrikes appear to have appalling accuracy. I fear that this doesn't bode well for supporting advancing ground troops..
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Oct 1 2015 20:34 utc | 16
G W Bush's strategy outlined in Seymour Hersh 'The Redirection' http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirection has taken a redirection. Then Bush backed the majority Sunni Dictatorships against a resurgent Iran and its supporters in the 'Arc of resistance' Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah. Now with Russian backing and possibly Chinese help the 'Arc' will be irresistible. The NeoCons are going ape shit.
Posted by: harry law | Oct 1 2015 21:02 utc | 19
All about one thing. Trust. Nobody trusts us anymore. Hell, I'm not even sure there's trust within the factions in the US. Deep State neocons have thoroughly destroyed our credibility, and the "realists" in the administration allowed this to happen by trying to "split the baby", so to speak and by not taking a hardline against a group of very powerful people who do not have the interests of the US at heart.
For anyone who watched that Senate hearing when Tom Cotton grilled CENTCOM General Austin and basically told him to get the Iranians out of Iraq and stop using the Shia militias, and if you recall Petraeus went to Baghdad soon afterward to raise hell and wrote an op-ed soon afterward-- if you remember this then the new development is logical.
Still, I'm surprised that the Russians are being this bold. Presumably while we've been in the quagmire they've been studying and observing. We've been kicking them in the teeth for two solid years on Ukraine and for 20 years really, post-USSR. Anybody with half a brain and some decency knew there would be blowback. You don't do that to a smart & proud people and expect them to just lay down and do nothing. It's not like they didn't give us enough chances to ally with them either. None of this had to happen. They're natural allies to the US, IMHO. And even if they weren't, it's stupid to abuse and provoke people.
We need real leadership -- and leadership of people who have the interests of the American people at heart. Even if you're not American, you should want that. It would be better for everyone.
Posted by: gemini33 | Oct 1 2015 21:10 utc | 20
The propaganda overdrive orders issued by the usual suspect to the various msm outlets is just breathtaking... They've taking their support for Al-CIADA groupies to a whole new level....
Suddenly Al-Nusra and their ilk are now "civilians". They simply can't bring themselves to the fact that their little regime change project of using cheap,opportunistic terrorist groupies is over.
NATO is effectively begging Russia to at least spare their favorite terrorist groupies for now..Hoping to get them a place in any future transition.FAT chance.
Syria is now under a Russian no fly zone - one which NATO won't dare breach. Interesting times ahead.
Posted by: Zico | Oct 1 2015 21:11 utc | 21
Thank god for the Russians in Syria, and the US and its Anglosphere and EU vassals can go to hell with their jihadi head choppers and liver eaters.
Posted by: AriusArmenian | Oct 1 2015 21:24 utc | 23
Won't the fight against Islamic State look sectarian if Hashd al-Shabi militias are primarily used, or this Russian coalition has only Shia dominated partners? Wouldn't Sunnis then be inclined to rally behind IS and al-Qaeda groups when they wouldn't otherwise if the opposition didn't appear Shia dominated? What is Hashd al-Shabi's record regarding the treatment of Sunni civilians anyway?
What again can "Sunnis" do that they haven't already done??? Heck, "Sunnis"(a term hijacked by fake/retarded/criminal "Muslims" to commit mass murder) are already bombing Shias everyday in their mosques and markets so what's new??? This cheap way of turning anything into a sectarian Sunni-Shia nonsense has failed.. It's a classic GCC/Zionist tactic to rally the gullible into doing stupid things.
Da'esh and their associate groupies will be given the Grozny treatment anywhere they find themselves - along with the "Sunni" community that support them.
Posted by: Zico | Oct 1 2015 21:31 utc | 24
@14
The nihilist head chopping foreign cannibal mercenaries are neither Sunni nor Shia. Nobody supports them except for Langley, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, etc.
Posted by: SingingSam | Oct 1 2015 21:35 utc | 25
The mainstream Sunni contingent between Iraq and Syria need to get their house in order. They resisted US occupation, which maybe got a sympathy vote for their plight.. but to so readily support these nihilist, sectarian militias undoes any sympathy from the world.
The Sunni, Shia, Christians and Kurds must co-exist in order for the region to be functional. I am aware that these sectarian battles are largely manipulated by outside forces, but to so readily support the likes of ISIL must give way to a more sensible form of resistence
Posted by: bbbbb | Oct 1 2015 21:57 utc | 26
donmeh jewish house of saud boy prince jewbeir speaks and demands of russia assad must go now : )
silly ittle boy has balls or just your average inbred.
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad must leave office or face being turfed out by force, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said, rejecting Russia's bid to build support for its ally.
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 1 2015 21:58 utc | 27
US policy in Syria has collapsed......
The Kurds and Iraqis are flocking to Putin.
The Iranians and Hezbollah are mopping up and the US, Saudi, Turkey axis is crumbling..
Even the media can,t figure out how to spin this catastrophe.
one of the problems Washington faces, is that it can,t adapt quickly because there,s a split in the administration about the way forward. This inability to decide will give Putin the time he needs to roll back jihadis on the ground which will put Assad back in the drivers seat.
I expect Brziznski to come out of hiding any day now and try to rally the troops, but it,s probably too late.
This round goes to Putin
Posted by: Plantman | Oct 1 2015 21:59 utc | 28
@13
in turkey A why now?
i have seen the movies are not navy seals and who dares wins and golani units trained for shock and awe incomings
why run moshe those kids in gaza handled a lot more.
what a headache
The MH-60G Pave Hawk’s primary mission is insertion and recovery of special operations personnel, while the HH-60G Pave Hawk’s core mission is recovery of personnel under stressful conditions, including search and rescue. Both versions conduct day or night operations into hostile environments
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 1 2015 22:12 utc | 29
@26 Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir is probably talking about a wage increase for jihadis. Double time on Sundays.
Posted by: dh | Oct 1 2015 22:15 utc | 30
@15
and France bombs children
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34399638
Posted by: bbbbb | Oct 1 2015 22:19 utc | 31
@15
Your confusion arises from the fact that the footage is not taken from the fighter dropping the bombs but from a drone flying nearby. Therefore the crosshair you see from the drone's camera does not correspond with what the fighter jet is targeting. From all accounts I have read nobody is disputing the pinpoint accuracy of the strikes up to now.
Posted by: Lochearn | Oct 1 2015 22:28 utc | 32
dh at 29 --
Shouldn't that be double time on Fridays?
Posted by: rufus magister | Oct 1 2015 22:30 utc | 33
jim stones got some great info
scroll down loads of stuff on isis special op group
http://82.221.129.208/ah2index.html
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 1 2015 22:36 utc | 34
@32 Point taken rufus. I'm anticipating a lot of ISIS conversions.
Posted by: dh | Oct 1 2015 22:53 utc | 35
Offers? Hopefully / probably goes more like the following...
Russia to Iraq: We cannot promise to track/follow/destroy fleeing al Q sis ruh's from Syria to Iraq unless you remove duplicitous U.S. from the picture. So the question is, do you want them all? Of course you don't.
But what about ground troops?
Posted by: Eureka Springs | Oct 1 2015 22:56 utc | 36
@31
I had considered that I was viewing drone footage, but nevertheless, was the first strike in this video aiming for the field next to the cluster of buildings?
This can mean the difference between success and failure for Russia's intervention, so it's important.
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Oct 1 2015 23:14 utc | 37
@36 pat.. i thought they were aiming for some underground fort myself..
Posted by: james | Oct 1 2015 23:17 utc | 38
It is documented that the US wishes to replace the ENTIRE govt of Syria, not just President Assad. Tiny backgrounder on the Empire's villain in the piece: Jeffrey Feltman: Previously he was US Amb to Israel, then Iraq, then Lebanon. Thierry Meyssan thinks he's the one who arranged the assassination of Lebanon's Hariri. At any rate he attempted to convict of the crime President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon and President Bashar al-Assad, on the basis of paid, false testimony, but the accusations collapsed once the truth was known.
At Geneva I in 2012 Jeffrey Feltman, now UN Dep Secy for Foreign Affairs, drew up a plan for the total and unconditional surrender of the Syrian Arab Republic. The sovereignty of the Syrian People must be abolished; the Constitution must be revoked ; the President must be relieved of his duties ; the Peoples’ Assembly must be dissolved ; 120 Syrian leaders must be arrested and judged and convicted ; the Direction of Military Intelligence, the Direction of Political Security and the Direction of General Security must be decapitated or dissolved ; the « political prisoners » must be freed and the anti-terrorist courses must be stopped.
He tried by trickery to get the same plan through the UN Security Council on July 29, 2015. Stefan De Misruta is Ban ki-Moon's personal rep in Syria & owes his position to Feltman. Doubtless we shall hear more from both as Syria moves towards peace negotiations.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article188577.html Two Thorns in Obama's Side.
Btw, the allegation that Russia once offered a deal whereby Assad wd step down I believe is false: 1. It seems to have originated w Peace Prize winner Astriani who seens a total neoliberal. 2. Iran has disclosed that they made a proposition to the Russians that included Assad stepping aside and the Russians refused it.
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 1 2015 23:21 utc | 39
Gemini33 @ 19,
"We need real leadership -- and leadership of people who have the interests of the American people at heart. Even if you're not American, you should want that. It would be better for everyone."
I don't yet see any sign of real patriots-- only the zio/neocons, who've been at least temporarily eclipsed by the more prudent faction who will go on building the financial and trade institutions of the NWO architecture. They also rely on certain UN programs, the climate change hoax-- and of course, TPP, etc. One can attack these w/o a single bullet & the bankster/decision-makers are vulnerable from this angle.
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 0:31 utc | 40
Charles Drake @ 13, So are the" Pave Hawk helicopters and search-and-rescue versions of the C-130" to evacuate the NATO advisors on the ground? And any high-value Chechens, etc, needed to reconstitute terrorist cells.
---
Has anyone heard any more about the Chinese or CSTO getting involved?
Saker's guessing that the Russian air attacks may be a sort of cover for massive influx of Iranian & Hezbollah troops. (Remember the 75 tanks given to Hezbollah by Syria?)
--
Lochearn @ 31, Thank you for explaining that the crosshairs in the bombing runs belong to drone photography. I didn't have a clue where the camera was.
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 0:32 utc | 41
@gemini "All about one thing. Trust. Nobody trusts us anymore."
This is exactly correct, because you cannot trust those who say one thing while doing another. I've said it 100000 times: the US has been running both sides for so long, it cannot honestly cop to any legitimate policy at all. And it is finally - FINALLY - coming to bite us back because other voices are starting to be heard and others intentions felt.
When the US ran the world for the last 25 years or so (Russia cowed, China quietly building, EU forced into submission) there was one voice. They controlled the conversation completely. Though everyone knew they were lying... there was still only one point of reference and they played every covert game behind that screen.
Now, this is no longer the case. The US policies can be compared with others, and they don't stand up. The last 70 years of brutality as a record don't help either...
9/21/15 Pepe: Daesh rules over the provinces of Ninive, Dijla, Ifrit and Al-Jazeera in Iraq, Abu Kamal and Deir ez-Zor in Syria, and most of all in Iraqi Furhat, around al-Baaj; that’s where the ISIS/ISIL/Daesh command and control center is located. If some Pentagon analyst took the trouble to contact Iraqi analyst Hisham al-Hashemi, he would tell him that al-Baghdadi himself is holed up in al-Baaj, along with his two wives. But who’s actually in command for the moment is the emir for Syria and Iraq, Abu Alaa al-Afari “Caliphate” goons married tribal women and are totally integrated. GCC and Maghreb nationals assure the protection of the commanders, for instance, while Eastern Europeans and Asians collect the loot, taxes and take care of weapons transportation. The key brigade is the one that “liberated” Mosul; 80% are Iraqis, and they are now fighting in Hassake, in Syria.
There may be up to 125,000 “Caliphate” goons in action, including up to 15,000 foreigners. But the hydra-like heads of the snake are in al-Baaj. Raze it to the ground, and we got Perseus Obama slaying the jihadi medusa..Russia’s national security interests do not necessarily converge with Iran’s national security interests (as in Syria offering a bridge to Hezbollah and also a Mediterranean projection for Iran.) --Pepe
--
SouthFront: Russia/Syria will soon try to take back Kuweires Airport as an operational base w/in Daesh territory.
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 0:41 utc | 43
Brown Elliot Hasbeen has been tweeting up a storm of lies I noticed...
US media is covering the Russian strikes only as a tanget to the Trump campaign. Really pathetic.
Good, short talk by Michel Chossudovsky on US foreign policy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icpAAtVbHBw
Posted by: Laguerre | Oct 1, 2015 4:18:17 PM | 11
Indeed Putin's completely reversed the situation. He is the one who can attack Nusra, and not only ISIS. Very neat trick.
Very nice observation.
Posted by: tom | Oct 1, 2015 4:18:38 PM | 12
How about the atrocious media coverage by the Russian bombing campaign in Syria against terrorists, and compare that to the Saudi massacreing over a hundred people by bombing a wedding in Yemen only a few days prior. Which is to say it got western media silence and therefore silent support for the ongoing slaughter in Yemen.
Another - not nice, but sad and shameful - observation. The R2P crowd are the silent scum of the earth. Second only in degree of guilt to the USA/KSA themselves, fully responsible for the conscious, 'routine' murders of civilians.
After Oregon Mass Shooting, Obama Says Gun Violence ‘Routine’
"Somehow this has become routine," Obama said. "The reporting has become routine. My response here, from this podium, has become routine."“Let’s be clear: At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this type of frequency. It is in our power to do something about it.”
The devil mocks the souls burned in his hellfire.
Posted by: jfl | Oct 2 2015 1:08 utc | 46
Thanks very much, b, for putting in the time you do, keeping me and everyone else here informed.
Posted by: jfl | Oct 2 2015 1:11 utc | 47
This has been a very bad week for Petraeus & Brzezinski, and don't you dare feel sorry for them. You reap what you sow. Putin should take this too the next level, and team up with the Pope & Oprah Winfrey, and start a one hour series TV show...episode 1 - JFK assassination episode 2 - MLK assassination 3 - RFK assassination ....or maybe episode 1 could be about the truth concerning 9/11 (whatever that turns out to be)
....I would imagine there are some interesting conversations going on inside our American government this week. It's a shame we can't get into killing our CIA proxy comrades in Syria. It would have been nice to ally with Russia, and push back the hands on the doomsday clock.
Posted by: Joe Tedesky | Oct 2 2015 1:11 utc | 48
@47
[Putin should] team up with the Pope & Oprah Winfrey, and start a one hour series TV show...episode 1 - JFK assassination episode 2 - MLK assassination 3 - RFK assassination ....
Ha! Brilliant! One of the best Ideas I have ever heard in my life - thanks for that.
guest77 | Oct 1, 2015 9:18:16 PM | 48
Oprah Winfrey obomapologist???
Posted by: Jack Smith | Oct 2 2015 1:54 utc | 50
Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria in the last 10 days and will soon join government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies in a major ground offensive backed by Russian air strikes, two Lebanese sources told Reuters.
"The (Russian) air strikes will in the near future be accompanied by ground advances by the Syrian army and its allies," said one of the sources familiar with political and military developments in the conflict.
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 2 2015 2:00 utc | 51
Senator John McCain on Thursday said Russia's initial air strikes in Syria targeted recruits in the Free Syrian Army rebel group backed by the United States.
"I can absolutely confirm to you that they were strikes against our Free Syrian Army recruits that have been armed and trained by the CIA because we have communications with people there," McCain, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview on CNN.
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 2 2015 2:04 utc | 52
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/world/middleeast/vladimir-putin-plunges-into-a-cauldron-saving-assad.html
Putin Plunges Into a Caldron in Syria: Saving Assad
By ANNE BARNARD and NEIL MacFARQUHAR 50 minutes ago
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia can achieve short-term goals, but analysts say efforts to restore President Bashar al-Assad’s control to all of Syria will be hindered by the civil war’s grim realities.
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 2 2015 2:08 utc | 53
36
first day i here was a lot of basements bunkers overground but mainly underground bangs.
bangs underground shockwave above plus cluster bomblets.
40
i here from uk at least 16 different indie security teams like these kind of guys
mainly uk and usa i here the poles,estonian and latvian are walking home
like ukraine when it gets hot first extraction is always cia,mi6,navy seal types for some reason they do not like going toe to toe with ivan.
hundreds of golani brigade types still in place probably claimed the land they must really want this oded yinon in the syriana theatre for a nice organic kibbutz
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 2 2015 2:27 utc | 54
@52
Why would you post this garbage here?
People come to this website to escape goddamn New York Times.
Posted by: MMARR | Oct 2 2015 2:45 utc | 55
guest 77 @ 44: Thanks for the link, Chossudovsky connecting all the dots, should be required listening for idiot America.
Posted by: ben | Oct 2 2015 3:07 utc | 56
Ben, sorry to break this to ya so bluntly, but
YOU are "idiot America"
you, binyamin
Posted by: ia | Oct 2 2015 3:26 utc | 57
i record the punctionation free poetry of our friend charles drake for a future generation should one exist
Posted by: Nobody | Oct 2 2015 3:35 utc | 58
From Al Masdar News
Russians Offer to Aid Lebanon in Their Fight Against ISIS: Hezbollah Key Player
A Russian delegation arrived in the Lebanese capital of Beirut this week to discuss the prospects of a Russo-Lebanese agreement (with the Central Command of the Lebanese Army) in order to coordinate military operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) that is currently operating inside the Tripoli and Beqa’a Governorates.According to a private government source, the Russo-Lebanese military agreement would include coordination with both the Syrian Armed Forces and the Lebanese Resistance group “Hezbollah”.
Hezbollah is currently combatting both ISIS and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” inside ‘Arsal District of the Beqa’a Governorate; this battle between the Lebanese Resistance and the aforementioned terrorist groups have been taking place for over six months in Lebanon’s eastern countryside.
Recently, a Russian delegation arrived in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad to discuss a similar agreement with the Iraqi Armed Forces; if both of these military initiatives are accepted, the Russians will have effectively coordinated with the three primary countries that have been greatly effected by this terrorist group in the Arab world.
The increased military participation in Syria has infuriated the Obama Regime and their allies, as the Russian Government did not seek out the U.S. approval to conduct their own military operations inside the country.
---------------------------
From Zero Hedge
Overheard At The Pentagon: "Right Now, We Are Putin's Prison Bitch"
Those who frequent these pages are well aware of what’s happened to Washington’s strategy in Syria over the past several weeks. Russia’s dramatic move to enter the fray has left the US trapped, as the West attempts to hang on to a narrative that’s no longer convincing even to a largely ignorant public.
Now, the only thing left to do is either stand down and let Moscow do as it pleases in support of the Assad regime, or else get on board and acquiesce to the inevitable.
Or, summed up in simpler terms...
Overheard at the Pentagon:
"Right now, we are Putin's prison bitch."— Nancy Youssef, ????? (@nancyayoussef)
September 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/nancyayoussef/status/649243859025854464
What's even more funny, is the first comment on "Zero Hedge,"
Temporalist Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:54 | 6612935I was hoping that was Hitlery's next title
------------------------------------
Western ruling elites and their puppets, minions, and goons, are foaming at the mouth, fuming over the Russian bear waking up from hibernation, extending its long paws into territory the Western gangsters consider theirs, blowing up with its claws their assumption and pretension of self-entitlement, and their self-assigned role as "world rulers."
Mao liked to say, "imperialism is a paper tiger," and the Russian bear is tearing the paper tiger into pieces. The new Russian role in the ME goes beyond the defeat of the IS/Qaeda low-life cannibals; the Russians are in fact disputing the Western gangsters hegemonic role in the region in the most assertive way possible, with a display of military power and diplomatic finesse. The defeat of Daesh is but one step, minimal, along the way to reconfigure the entire geopolitical structure of the ME and beyond. New alignments will be created, and that's happening fast, old alliances will crumble, and many statelets, banana "republics," feudal kingdoms and puppet entities will be swept away by the new historical forces unleashed upon the region.
The Eurasian wind is now blowing with fury upon the usurpers, and it will freeze them to death in their rat-holes. The "New World Order" has been superseded, pushed aside, left behind as a derelict, and it will be replaced by a new global order, where the Western gangsters will understand you cannot bluff a nuclear power, you have to be serious. The US will continue to be a threat for time to come, though it will have to look for new ways to deceive the masses. Color revolutions are over. Regional "springs" are finished.
Eurostan is now getting a massive input of cheap labor, but it will take decades before they can get integrated into the system for meaningful exploitation. In the meantime, internal contradictions will crack the fragile glue that keeps them together. Historically, old bastard Europe has been an opportunistic entity, and they are already sniffing in which direction the Eurasian wind is blowing.
In a nutshell, Russia has now taken the strategic initiative, and the axis of the contradiction empire-periphery has now moved to a new stage, a new phase, and a new defining moment. Sun Tzu (The Art of War) states that timing and momentum are fundamental to the execution and planning of strategy. Russia's timing, blocking US/UK/NATOstan/Turkey final assault on Syria, getting UN et al backing for his military intervention, all within the framework of international law, has been, to say the least, impeccable; and the force of its momentum, currently unfolding at political, military, diplomatic, and counter-propaganda levels, a solid and powerful punch.
We are now privileged witnesses to the birth of a new historical stage, moving away from a short period of unipolar hegemony, to a different multipolarity still in the making, still undefined, an herculean task not different than cleaning the Augean stables, but much better in any sense than the enslavement planned by the neozionazi beasts for the masses of the planet.
Urrah! Urrah! Urrah!
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Oct 2 2015 4:44 utc | 59
If the Iraqi PM formally asks for Russian military assistance then the Israelis are going to have apoplexy.
Look at the map: Russian fighter jets and S-300 missiles in both Syria *and* Iraq will mean a Russian defensive umbrella that stretches all the way from the Golan Heights to the Iraq/Iran border.
The Russians are not fools, so if they get all those little ducks lined up in a row then the Kremlin is sure to ask itself a very sensible question: why should they risk any Russian troops on the ground when the Iranian Revolutionary Guards can be "invited" in to help out?
Think about what that would mean: Israel will face a future where an expeditionary army of Revolutionary Guards will be Right Next Door, and all of them operating under the very best Russian air defences.
Not only that, but if Israel complains about having the Iranians Right Next Door then, well, gosh, those 250,000 Iranian troops aren't deploying in *Israel's* direction at all - they are fighting their way towards the centre of Syria/Iraq because that's where the "caliphate" is.
So what's your problem, Bibi? Why get your knickers in a twist when the front is moving *away* from you?
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Oct 2 2015 4:57 utc | 60
Just to flesh out my last post: if the Iraqi govt formally requests Russian assistance then Putin can open a two-front war against ISIS using Iranian troops i.e. he can fly in Revolutionary Guards to Syria to fight their way eastward, and at the same time the Iraqis can "request" that Iranian troops cross the border and fight their way westward, with ISIS the meat in the sandwich.
And when those two forces meet then That's The End Of ISIS.
But not only that: a successful end to that campaign will see the Iranians in possession of a bridge that stretches all the way to the Golan Heights back to Iran.
Which means that Iran *could* (note that I say *could*, not *will*) deploy troops right on Israel's border.
But if the IDF wanted to return that favour... it couldn't: Syria and Iraq are in the way.
Posted by: Yeah, Right | Oct 2 2015 5:11 utc | 61
@Yeah, Right@59
Look at the map: Russian fighter jets and S-300 missiles in both Syria *and* Iraq will mean a Russian defensive umbrella that stretches all the way from the Golan Heights to the Iraq/Iran border.
S-300/S-400 are a very important part of the defensive umbrella Russia is extending over the region; Iran, however, is about to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, currently an observer state, once the sanctions are lifted, hopefully at the beginning of 2016.
The SCO is a political, economic and military organization created by Russia, China, several 'stans, and this year India and Pakistan were added to the SCO. Iran is coming next. That means Iran will be under the nuclear umbrella of Russia and China, i.e. untouchable by anyone. Israhole, as our master poster charles drake calls the Zionazi entity, tried and failed to keep the sanctions on Iran, aiming to keep Iran as a world pariah, precisely because the sanctions were the obstacle for Iran to achieve strategic power without building nuclear weapons.
OTOH, China considers Iran gas and oil reserves strategic, thefore Iran has a de facto protection from China, as well as from Russia. It has come now in the open, with Russia/China moving to the neighborhood. Iran is also a candidate to join the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, CSTO, a military alliance created by the Commonwealth of Independent States. Iran (and Syria) will be well protected, since behind Russia and China are the SCO and the CSTO, with both organizations following very closely the latest developments in the ME.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Oct 2 2015 6:13 utc | 62
No. B is reading too much into this. By kissing up to the russians several parties in the Middle East, those same parties play their own small game of "Divide & Rule". These parties seemingly want more support for their own agendas. And if the US doesn't want to give that support (in whatever form) then they'll turn to the russians.
But by giving more support to those parties the Middle East won't "calm down" any time soon. In that regard it would be very helpful to see one or more important players (say Saudi Arabia, US, Turkey, ..........) who help to continue the war in that same Middle East, go bankrupt. Then one or more sources of funding will dry up and force the warring parties to come to a peacefull solution/settlement by their own.
Posted by: Willy2 | Oct 2 2015 6:48 utc | 63
Willy2 @ 62,
Do look at Southfront http://thesaker.is/international-military-review-syria-oct-1-2015-studying-russian-military-operation/ It's a very quick video
--
I think large numbers of Iranian & Hezbolla are already on the ground.
---
Saudis are engaged in inter-royals conflict, maybe w outside participation.
Cash is still flowing. but the battles they had been waging via Jordan have all failed. Military Operations Center in Jordan has shut down because of the failure of the 5th offensive againsr Dar’aa. With the advances of the Syrian Army and Hezbollah in the Qalamoun and Zabadani regions, it won’t be long before they close in and reach the Jordanian borders.
Qatar may continue to pour money into Lebanon's 14th of March coalition. [Syria haters] This inflow of funds alone however will not have a great impact on the events in Syria. It can only further destabilize Lebanon.
Backgrounder: http://thesaker.is/war-on-syria-not-quite-according-to-plan-part-4-the-undoing-of-the-plotters/ Ghassan Kadi
---
Turkey? Erdogan is fighting for his political life; Elections in November. He's all done w Syria.
---
Only thing I know about Iraq: The Iraqi Kurds have been allies of Israel & US long time.
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 7:26 utc | 65
@62 @64 true - I think Erdogan and King Salman will shoulder the blame and get voted out / coup'd.
A new president for Turkey and a new Royal for KSA; Syria (if Assad wins) becomes peaceful again, Iran will maintain a subdued 'crescent', Israel will periodically drop bombs on Hezbollah, and everybody will pretend nothing happened.
I think Putin won't try to dethrone USA from being the rulers of the middle east - he'll continue the existing coalition, seek business deals, and will defend Russia from any potential problems from the region - at least until 2018
Posted by: bbbbb | Oct 2 2015 7:45 utc | 66
Oh, look at this
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-01/mid-east-coup-russia-pounds-militant-targets-iran-readies-ground-invasions-while-sau
HeHeHeHe
Oh, stop, Penelope, You're getting giddy.
HeHeHeHeHeHe
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 9:07 utc | 67
Bahaha this is getting pathetic,
Germany, us, uk, ksa, qatar, france condemn russian bombing!
http://tass.ru/en/world/825521
Western hypocrisy=nauseting
Posted by: soloft | Oct 2 2015 9:11 utc | 68
47
It's just amazing the number of Hasbara and Marxist trolls popping up on MoA since the acknowledged illegal dual-citizen Israeli Coup in Ukraine, ... all centered on the absurd meme that, "the Dark US Empire is falling apart at the seams" because Xi builds some islands in the South China Sea, and then Putin does some strafing runs in Northern Syria.
BFD. Do you have any idea how massive a $1TRILLION a year USAryan Wehrmacht is, one that monitors or patrols every centimeter of the earth's surface?
BRIC was a HUGE scam, mobilizing that same Hasbara and Marxist meme, that any day now either China or Russia or India or Brazil would create a gold-based counter currency, then America would implode overnight. These trolls were so effective, American worshippers threw more of their last life savings that are never coming back at BRIC, than all the gold bullion and fiat gold toilet paper buggery up through 2011.
Even pimps like Jim Rogers and Warren Buffett got caught in the BRIC hysteria, and now Putin, bereft of funds, crude and strategic metals in the tank, vicious economic sanctions in place, has to play the 'good cop' in the Hasbara-esque Levant Morality Play, where it's OK to ethnically cleanse Gaza, the West Bank, Syria and even Yemen, but we better go to Full Battle Rattle and build more $10sBs obsolete weapons systems, and run 24-hour National Propaganda Radio alerts, because 'The Russians Are Coming!!'
It's cointel for the massive arms deals marketing, dutifully trolled to reach the 'nudge point' of all heavy-handed PSYOP, best illustrated by George Orwell, 'We have always been at war with Eurasia!'
And the rockets red glare, the bmobs bursting in air, gave proof through Levant, of the massive war profits there.
"We won, you lost. It's just business, get over it."
Posted by: Chipnik | Oct 2 2015 9:44 utc | 69
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 2 2015 10:17 utc | 70
58
Whatever you say. Here's some more war pron, so you can work yourself into a raging stiffy, ...but remember, if those wires get crossed, USAryans will smoke the RU-IRians.
Posted by: Chipnik | Oct 2 2015 10:29 utc | 71
Despair, hardship as Iraq cuts off wages in Islamic State cities
The Iraqi government's decision to choke off funding for Islamic State by cutting off all wages and pensions in cities controlled by the group has plunged people into hardship and could help the insurgents tighten their grip, officials and residents say.
For a year after Islamic State fighters swept through a third of Iraq, Baghdad continued to pay pensions and salaries of state employees inside the self-proclaimed caliphate.
But since July all such payments have been halted, depriving whole cities' pensioners, civil servants, doctors, teachers, nurses, police and workers at state-owned companies of both their income and some of their last official links to Baghdad.
The move is meant to cut Islamic State militants off from of an income stream they have been skimming to fund their efforts to build a self-sustaining state in Iraq and Syria.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/02/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-salaries-idUSKCN0RW0V620151002
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 2 2015 10:47 utc | 72
Regarding post 71
This is what ukraine have done to the Donbass. No one cared about the pensioners there. No one except Russia cared that these people were plunged into hardship.
Regarding the post 67. about the US vassals expressing concern about the bombing. Last week cameron wanted to intervene now he doesn't like that Russia has intervened.
Also all those migrants were flooding Europe because of a situation caused by Turkey. As has been stated by others
These EU "leaders" are hypocrites
Posted by: James lake | Oct 2 2015 11:45 utc | 73
Chipnik @ 68 says:
...but remember, if those wires get crossed, USAryans will smoke the RU-IRians
i love it when your Stockholm syndrome oozes out...which is pretty much every time you make a comment.
Posted by: john | Oct 2 2015 11:48 utc | 74
This article in French reports and incident between Russian and Israeli fighter planes. (Oct 2, it happened in the night of Oct 1.) 6 Sukhoi SU 30-SM left the base of Hmimim in the direction of Cyprus and intercepted 4 Israeli McDonnell Douglas F-15 in attack formation and position. The Israelis turned tail and flew away as fast as they could over Lebanon. The Lebanese Army communicated that 4 enemy planes entered Lebanese airspace (at 23.13) The Israelis protested to Moscow. Moscow demanded an explanation of why the Israelis were in Syrian airspace.
stragetika 51 http://tinyurl.com/pcxrrex
Interesting interview with a pro-Assad Syrian fighter. fort russ http://tinyurl.com/omymf5g (okie farmer note Assad is still paying everyone.)
Posted by: Noirette | Oct 2 2015 11:51 utc | 75
http://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/317348-is-syria-russia-us/
Mideast Alliances
Posted by: okie farmer | Oct 2 2015 12:20 utc | 76
58
Omfg its like reading Fox News, only pro-Russian.
Wolfie sounds like what I imagine a Russophile Bill O'Reilly would sound like. And every bit as retarded too
Posted by: Myles | Oct 2 2015 12:47 utc | 77
Wow, I didn't think Putin was this stupid or this would ever get this desperate. He's taken the lure — now let's see if they can haul him up out of the water and into the boat. At this rate, I'd say they just may do it.
The irony is, Putin is doing exactly what America is doing in Syria — indiscriminate bombing under the guise of discriminate bombing because we all know, in this day and age, not only despite technology but most likely because of it, there is no such thing as discriminate bombing. It’s all indiscriminate these days and civilians are the de facto targets since it’s a known fact civilians suffer the largest casualties and yet bombing proceeds unhindered by such damning statistics. Collateral damage is the purpose and terror is the effect.
One thing’s for sure — Assad, if he wasn’t already, is now Putin’s bitch in perpetuity. One misstep, or any lip or infidelity or show of ingratitude, and Bashar will be Nemtsoved faster than he can say Borscht.
You defeat the Islamic State or IS (not ISIS anymore) by not fueling it. Engaging it in combat is fueling it. You deprive it. You starve it. You create an environment that renders it infertile. A metaphorical barren landscape where its seed of destruction cannot grow. Engaging it militarily is giving it fertile soil. It’s giving it a purpose — a locus to center itself on.
Where are the weapons coming from? The Islamic State can’t operate without weapons, money, and all manner of logistical equipment. Deny them that, and refrain from failing states, and the Islamic State will die on the vine. IS is a monster of America’s own creation. It must be destroyed in the exact opposite manner in which it was created.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Oct 2 2015 13:12 utc | 78
not a good day for the kosher nostra cia and golani brigade no so special op's
irish royalty jewish man john kohn cohen killarney kerry calls them moderates yes those friendly folks in Al Qaeda al Nusra.
someone on here the other day said these prada black talmoodick lovin fashionistas would stop using toyota pick up truck change tactics.
my life already
what a headache
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prpPmQwOMX8
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 2 2015 13:15 utc | 79
- Right. Erdogan is fighting for his political life but I don't think he'll survive. Erdogan will either be voted out of office or "booted out" by a (military) coup. The country has become too unstable.
Posted by: Willy2 | Oct 2 2015 13:27 utc | 80
It seems to me that the USA actually doesn't mind giving to Russia the responsibility of Iraq where it has failed lamentably. Iraq has become more of a burden to the USA. As the USA's suspicion on Iran's nuclear weapon ( that would have threaten Israel)have faded away, Iran is now considered as 'safe' and its influence in Iraq acceptable.
Therefore there is no need anymore for the USA to have a presence in Iraq other than to secure the oil. The "Regime change" policy is closed.
The losers are the sunnis, turkey, saudi arabia, qatar. Maybe it is time for them to accept that unless they reconcile with the Shias, they risk further instability.
Posted by: virgile | Oct 2 2015 14:13 utc | 81
- Duplicity ? The Obama administration simply wants to stay out of this mess. But a lot of parties are trying to use US military power to advance their own agenda(s).
E.g. the iraqi shia want US weapons to fight ISIS and after that to fight the iraqi kurds.
One has to keep in mind that Kerry spoke with both Lavrov & Putin in Sotchi. I more & more presume that the 3 persons have discussed how to handle the situation in the Middle East. And current developments could be the result of those talks in Sotchi.
http://www.salon.com/2015/05/19/john_kerry_admits_defeat_the_ukraine_story_the_media_wont_tell_and_why_u_s_retreat_is_a_good_thing/
Patrick L. Smith is VERY critical about US foreign & domestic policie(s).
http://www.salon.com/writer/patrick_l_smith/
Posted by: Willy2 | Oct 2 2015 14:20 utc | 82
"By their fruits ye shall know them."
Fascinating thread this.
Bravo, Lone Wolf. I haven't felt this hopeful since the early hours of the Obama presidency. It's lovely to fee that way again, even if there's a long road ahead fraught with peril. But I dare to hope, for the Palestinians in Gaza, for the elderly in the Donbass, for Saudi Arabian womenfolk, for African wildlife and organic famers everywhere. For the earth!
Posted by: juliania | Oct 2 2015 14:45 utc | 84
Btw, the allegation that Russia once offered a deal whereby Assad wd step down I believe is false. Penelope at 38.
I doubted as well it was true, but without knowing what P posts. (But maybe it did happen.) My thought was that the idea, a very obvious one after all, was mentioned in some context or other, perhaps even bandied about, but that it was never a Syrian/Russian offer on the table. It might even have been the other way round, with the Americans (one faction) sending up a trial balloon.
You defeat the Islamic State or IS (not ISIS anymore) by not fueling it. Engaging it in combat is fueling it. You deprive it. You starve it. You create an environment that renders it infertile. Cold at 77.
If Cold and myself (see my previous posts) and others can figure this out, the Russians have known it for ever, and this is the unseen part - as I wrote before, diplomacy and arm-twisting and particularly manipulating Erdogan. Controlling the border(s) is of prime importance. How that can be accomplished / will work I haven’t a clue.
The Russian from-the-air bombing (and not by a tremendous force as has been pointed out) is a show of strength not only for the world-wide gallery and for the ISIL fighters on the ground who rightly don’t much fear the US but are terrified of Russia, it also demonstrates (supposing that is the Russian strategy) that what the US ‘does’, or claims it it is doing -fighting terrorist djihadists- can actually be truly implemented with rapid, extremely serious effects. It is an upstart move - you claim to do x, it hasn’t worked squat, we can do the very same thing far better, watch!
Posted by: Noirette | Oct 2 2015 14:50 utc | 85
Chipnik @ 68: There is much truth in what you say, but, ya' can't blame folks for desiring a counter-balance to the 4th reich. Hell, I find myself in that camp also. Delusional it may be, but the globe needs a "new world order" badly. Are the BRICS folks, and the "new alliance" people in the ME, " meet the new boss, same as the old boss"? The world needs to find out.
Posted by: ben | Oct 2 2015 15:08 utc | 86
@ 42, where I quote Pepe Escobar as having written, "There may be up to 125,000 “Caliphate” goons in action, including up to 15,000 foreigners."
I think Pepe means 15k OUT-OF-AREA foreigners, like Western special forces, etc. It's my understanding that just about all of ISIS is recruited from outside Syria in the Mid-East, no?
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 15:15 utc | 87
@Chipnik@68 & 70
Difficult to decipher your gobbledygook, so I can't dignify you with a response. BTW, talking about crossed wires and smoking...you need not go that far...
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Oct 2 2015 15:35 utc | 89
a band of simian apes become bravo 2 zero all alone without a paddle.
cia centcom command control demolition = communications breakdown.
they are all gone now just gone
converted to dust
using sat phones and iphones a death sentence.
no missile needed for the ape grunt from turkey but the commanders forward controllers different story.
jewish actor shimon elliot elliot simon aka isis man bagdadi i am sure buried his ifone long ago.
his family in turkey and tel aviv must be very concerned
this will be won with denial of telecoms.
this will be won by listening to the chitter chatter.
this is a russian test
testing testing
The R-330P 'Piramida-I', based on the chassis of an MT-LBu, is utilised for detecting, intercepting and jamming voice and data communications. Equipped with two antennas, one is tasked with detecting and intercepting very high frequency (VHF) bands used by communication systems while the other antenna jams these frequencies, disabling any communication systems within a range of 25 kilometers that use these frequencies.
The presence of just one of these vehicles could have a significant impact on the ground, making it impossible for the rebels to coordinate their attacks and communicate with each other over the radio, thus possibly thwarting any rebel offensive. A deadly tool in the hands of trained personnel.
http://spioenkop.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/syrias-r-330p-communications-jamming.html
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 2 2015 15:46 utc | 90
yeah, right @ 59: It's really stretching it to call SCO "military"; they're just a forum meeting annually. The word "security" is in statement of purpose, but they're pretty diffuse.
---
Willy2 @ 62, "No. B is reading too much into this. By kissing up to the russians several parties in the Middle East, those same parties play their own small game of "Divide & Rule". These parties seemingly want more support for their own agendas. And if the US doesn't want to give that support (in whatever form) then they'll turn to the russians."
The Bagdad information sharing center (intelligence) has been given the official function of "Interaction Coordination." Suggests Iraq is a participant, no? South Front says that Iraqi airport at Deir Ez Zour is a "potential" .
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 15:55 utc | 91
bbbbb @ 65, Biggest imm'y question re Saudis: How will it affect recent Russian contract to build nuke power plants-- and especially talk of agreement to raise oil price via quota, etc.
Surely the royals who oppose King Salmon are being backed by outsiders? Israel is especially interested in light of secret security alliance w it. They MUST depend on each other in the changed situation.
--
Soloft @ 67,
And what's more KSA DEMANDS that they stop that bombing. He MUST be senile; why else wd you open yourself to the humiliation of being ignored & made to look like an old lady stamping her foot?
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 15:56 utc | 92
84 -- as far as I can tell the claim that "an offer was made" by Russia has been denied ... however in 2012, around that time, there was discussion of a power-sharing government including Assad and rebels (much as is being proposed now and has been proposed in ongoing fashion for years), so, this is likely a matter of semantics and -- most importantly -- recognition that Assad has been "popularly" reelected in the interim ... I suspect no "offer" was made so there could be no "refusal" ... although, of course, the demand that Assad-must-go could reasonably be seen as same. It's hard to keep the various Geneva conferences straight but even in 2013 the fragmentation and civil-war-within-the-rebels (aided and abetted by KSA's lopsided support for fundamentalist) made negotiations about anything damn near impossible. (I found a Reuters 2012 link last week that spoke openly about Russia's willingness to discuss powersharing representing a significant shift, and loss of support for Assad, who was last reelected in 2014 -- unable to relocate).
Regarding ISIS -- NYT reported 30,000 outsiders crossed into Syria to fight FOR ISIS in the last year ...
BBC Newshour had a cringingly embarrassing segment with a Democratic congress critter who claimed American inaction wrt ISI was due to a "necessity" to avoid large scale American casualities and -- it's was all Bush's fault ...
I do wonder how this is playing in the rest of the world. The lack of coverage in the American press is gob-smacking. Coming so quickly in the (now forgotten by Americans) refugee crisis in which American reluctance to offer slots to more-than-originally-planned was so embarassingly craven, the Russian moves against ISIS (opening up the possibility that some of those Syrians might get to "go home" some day") seems borderline "heroic" -- although the same gross limitation of air-strikes remain.
Early days -- it took months for the storm clouds of WWI to organize ... America should both welcome Russian action and recognize their role as a stakeholder ... if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride, indeed.
Posted by: Susan Sunflower | Oct 2 2015 16:01 utc | 93
"These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalization," runs a joint statement of Turkey, the US, Germany, the UK, France, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
I see. The US has supposedly been bombing them for a whole year, but US bombs don't escalate & don't fuel extremism-- only Russian bombs do that.
They are either planning to explode a dirty nuke which they will blame on the Russians for making ISIS mad. . . or they issued the above statement to purposely make themselves look like not-very-bright liars.
---
Chipnik @ 68,
You are almost 100% right, but we are enjoying just a brief escape from reality here. How often in your life is it possible to get giddy over the news?
We are the bull, mesmerized by the red cape of US aggression, while ignoring that oh-so-vulnerable planning hand behind it. I know, I know & I will shortly begin to write again about why we need to kill the supranational organizations that usurp national sovereignty. And how the Washington Consensus continues to weaken the Russian economy. And I've already written about the BRICS and will do so again.
I promise, Dad, just a few days' vacation here.
Posted by: Penelope | Oct 2 2015 16:27 utc | 94
@Cold N. Holefield@77
You defeat the Islamic State or IS (not ISIS anymore) by not fueling it.
For a strategy, or lack thereof, that's a nonstarter. IMHO, the shortsighted view believes Russia is fighting ISIS/Qaeda et al, when in fact Russia/China/Iran strategy goes far beyond the defeat of the takfiris. The defeat of ISIS/AQ et al is a beginning, not an end in itself. For now, control of the Syrian skies and projecting a strong presence is the task at hand. Starvation and deprivation will not defeat an enemy whose logistical support is guaranteed by the empire and its minions, support that turned ISIS/Qaeda into a lethal force with a high and fast rate of success in the battlefield. You may criticize the Russian tactics, the bombings, which btw are just beginning, but in terms of strategy, not confronting ISIS directly and with a superior force is naive at best, profoundly dangerous at worst.
OTOH, the Russians are just preparing the land, still doing a reconnaissance in force, for what is coming, the Iranians/HA/Shia militias/Popular Forces etc. land combat forces. Given their experience in Afghanistan and Chechnya, the Russians won't be as stupid as you think they are, believing air-bombing is the solution for Daesh. I would say give it a month or two, and we will have a better idea of what unfolds.
After all, "No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy," said von Moltke.
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Oct 2 2015 16:27 utc | 95
@94 Don't be too hard on Cold War Warrior. He has a real problem admitting the Russians might have a viable policy in Syria. He can't understand why the US has been so inactive dealing with ISIS.
Posted by: dh | Oct 2 2015 16:33 utc | 96
but in terms of strategy, not confronting ISIS directly and with a superior force is naive at best, profoundly dangerous at worst.
Tell that to Putin and tell me when he confronts it directly. I agree that we will see. The Middle East is a quagmire. Russia runs the risk of getting in too deep. It's near impossible just to put a toe in. Once you do, it quickly grabs the whole foot and then the legs, torso, chest and arms — and before you know it, you're up to your neck.
I also will say that what America has done by helping stoke this civil war is sickening. BHO has the nerve to lament, and politicize, the most recent tragic school shooting in Oregon whilst for the past four years or more he's been arming terrorists in Syria and by virtue of that he is complicit in the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and he's responsible for the massive refugee crisis fueled by the diabolical civil war. Hypocrisy at its finest and most sadistic.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Oct 2 2015 17:23 utc | 97
@96 cold.. you are in fine form today! this is not the old cold i am used to!
Posted by: james | Oct 2 2015 17:39 utc | 98
the russians pound the rat caves the rodents flee
the syrian airforce has a highway turkey shoot.
oh raqqa mighty raqqa home of the kosher prada dressed sons of murdoch, rita katz arnon milchan harvey weinsteins.
and the thousands of other 9 and 11 israeli demolition bullshit b thing gelatin artists
your corrupted talmudick spiel has been burged.
ice man ivan ahead
run away runaway
raqqa should smell fresher for a while at least today.
"A large number of foreign ISIL terrorists have fled Raqqa for Iraq after the Russian warplanes pounded their hideouts,
http://english.farsnews.com/print.aspx?nn=13940710000749
Russian Air Force Strikes ISIL-Held Airbase West of Syria's Raqqa
Posted by: charles drake | Oct 2 2015 17:41 utc | 99
@96 Likewise. Are we witnessing an epiphany? Brace yourselves, he may say something nice about Vlad!!
Posted by: dh | Oct 2 2015 17:42 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
Obama is getting loads more than he was aiming for ... 11 dimensional chess falls flat.
○ 'Obama’s aim is the creation of a new regional political architecture in which Israel’s vital needs,
and American national security, will be more firmly anchored than ever before’ (2009) [pdf]
Posted by: Oui | Oct 1 2015 18:54 utc | 1