How the Turkish mafia organizes the trafficking of refugees

Posted by: nmb | Dec 23 2015 11:51 utc | 3

Best wishes for a merry ending and a new start for 2016.
May the arrival of the next centaur be delayed, so I can enjoy my pension earned through hard labor. 😉

Posted by: Oui | Dec 23 2015 12:09 utc | 5

chipnik,
thanks for the photo essay book, looks like it will be a great xmas read.
the map of course is a 19th century rendering of what came centuries before. it would be interesting to track down roman maps, but i’m just a map geek.
all the old names for areas, rivers, cities etc., will come in handy if and when i decide to re-read Gibbon’s Decline and Fall. last time i relied on maps in the back of old bibles, ha!
somehow i don’t think pointing to a label on an old map will give the lie to zionist statements about palestine not existing before 1947, “land without a people” etc.
merry bah humbug everyone.

Posted by: sillybill | Dec 23 2015 12:48 utc | 7

Here is my take on the Samir Kuntar December 21 hit. It is an attempt to drive a wedge between Hezbollah and Russia. Why him and why now? Because Hezbollah and SAA are attacking Quneitra close to the Israeli controlled Golan Heights under the cover of RuAF aircraft. Even with S-300 operated by Syria in close proximity, the IAF could have flown below the radar envelope and beyond its perimeter to fire missiles from a distance. It is not by coincidence, that a couple of days later, Putin and Netanyahu had a publicised phone conversation that stressed the need for coordination. The phone call was apparently initiated by the Russian side.
1) The hit didn’t benefit Russia’s reputation.
2) Kuntar was not as high profile operative for Hezbollah to be deemed an operational target for Israel’s security.
3) His assassination is more a revenge killing engineered to produce a psychological and political statement.
4) At this juncture, Israel wants to drive a wedge in the 4+1 (aka 6+1) coalition. Israel is unhappy that the RuAF protects Hezbollah and the SAA’s attack close to Israeli controlled Druze Golan.

Posted by: Sun Tzu | Dec 23 2015 13:44 utc | 9

UK government refuses to release details of secret agreement with Saudi Arabia involving coordination between militaries and police
The Foreign Office document says the MoU was signed “to help modernise” the Saudi interior ministry and would draw on “UK expertise in the wider security and policing arena”.
But the Government has now refused to disclose any more details of the secretive deal.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/629041/Theresa-May-Saudi-Arabia-secret-deal-interior-ministry-human-rights-UK
It sounds like Saudis view UK as the leader in how to run a police state.

Posted by: Les | Dec 23 2015 15:09 utc | 11

Posted by: Sun Tzu | Dec 23, 2015 8:44:16 AM | 9
you are probably right though it seems the phone call was initiated by Netanyahu and the Israel-Russian relationship is a lot more complicated
Hours after welcoming Ukranian president, Netanyahu phones Putin

Israeli officials said that phone call, which focused on Syria, terrorism and regional issues, was planned in advance and had nothing to do with the Ukrainian president’s visit. The two leaders, according to both the Israeli and Russian readout of the call, agreed to continue the high-level dialogue between them.
The phone call came amid tension in the north following the killing in Damascus on Saturday of Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar.

Posted by: somebody | Dec 23 2015 16:25 utc | 13

Apparently, the authorities in Odessa were willing to relax on their efforts to pin the blame for the May 2014 arson at the Dom Profsoyuz which killed dozens.
Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 23, 2015 8:14:09 AM | 8
From headquarters of Grammar Nazi Movement. “Dom Profsoyuz” means a building that is also a trade union. However, the building burned in Odessa in May 2014 was a property/joint headquarters of trade unions, as in this title from Ukrainian patriotic press
Дом профсоюзов в Одессе подожгли сами сепаратисты – МВД и ГСЧС
transliteration: Dom profsoyuzov v Odyssye podzhogli sami separatisty = MVD i GSChS
translation: separatists themselves set the fire to the House of Trade Unions in Odessa — Ministry of the Interior and (I do not know)
Otherwise, good stuff, rufus magister. GoU scored one little victory, the official blessing of IMF to renege on debt to Russia.
But Ukraine with very, very sketchy state of legality, is not a good place to invest, so subsidizing the government is probably futile.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 23 2015 16:28 utc | 15

Merry social reinforcements and a happy reincarnation ritual to all.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Dec 23 2015 16:41 utc | 17

add to 13
That is Russian media’s concern – it was not the FSA
Still the same reasoning – split Russia and Hezbollah – I guess there is a Western push to declare Hezbollah a terrorist group.

Posted by: somebody | Dec 23 2015 16:50 utc | 19

@16 dh!

Posted by: james | Dec 23 2015 17:58 utc | 21

From the comments on a very interesting article:
An interesting and thought-provoking article. And a very interesting take on Trump. It’s strange: Hillary Clinton is a blood soaked monster joined at the hip to Wall Street, who has deliberately destabilized much of the world, creating huge suffering. And she wants to gut social security to help feed the oligarchs, and give away US democratic principles to foreign trade boards, etc. Donald Trump has a big mouth (sadly necessary to avoid being ignored by the corporate press) but his principles are moderate – and yet Trump is a ‘fascist’ and Hillary mainstream? We have turned things backwards.
http://www.unz.com/ishamir/putin-blues/

Posted by: From The Hague | Dec 23 2015 18:51 utc | 23

Private VS Public ‘interest’. Western leaders are but a mouthpiece for private backers, the tail wagging the dog. If western governance is not promoting, almost preaching the virtues of private finance, then they are usually first asked to do the clean up after private finance. For the most part master slave.
Iraqi guvnas would be wise in seeking alternate assistance in securing their nation. Its not hard to see who is in a position of strength leading into this theatre of chaos in Syraq. In fact, the more I see these figures, the more I understand this last desperate corporate attempts at subverting governments in secret courts and ensuring ill gotten gains at the expense of the land – the figures say a revolution is nigh.
From March 2012:
‘…The BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, and China—contain nearly three billion of the world’s seven billion people, or 40% of the global population. The BRICs all make heavy use of public sector banks, which compose about 75% of the banks in India, 69% or more in China, 45% in Brazil, and 60% in Russia.
The BRICs have been the main locus of world economic growth in the last decade. China Daily reports, “Between 2000 and 2010, BRIC’s GDP grew by an incredible 92.7 percent, compared to a global GDP growth of just 32 percent, with industrialized economies having a very modest 15.5 percent.”…’
http://www.globalresearch.ca/public-sector-banks-from-black-sheep-to-global-leaders/29662?print=1

Posted by: MadMax2 | Dec 23 2015 20:52 utc | 25

Jennie Brogan: (Jennie Screams)
Jennie Brogan: Jennie Screams
Jennifer Brogan: (Jennifer Screams)
Jennifer Brogan: Jennifer Screams
Jennie Brogan: (Jennie Screaming)
Jennie Brogan: Jennie Screaming
Jennifer Brogan: (Jennifer Screaming)
Jennifer Brogan: Jennifer Screaming
Shandi Screams: No
Shandi Screams: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Mary Jane Watson: (Screaming)
Mary Jane: (Screaming)

Posted by: casey screaming | Dec 23 2015 20:57 utc | 27

trying to reveal what is really going on
eyes to the sky!
happy holidays!

Posted by: john | Dec 23 2015 21:06 utc | 29

Regarding the Samir Kuntar murder in Damascus, The Saker has written a quite long piece attempting to describe the relationship between RF and Israel, between Russians and Jews. I don’t know enough to critique it, but numerous points make great sense to me.
It’s the best I’ve seen to explain why Russia let Israel fight Hezbollah in Syria, and why this changes nothing except to further illustrate the complexities of the region, the situation, and Russia’s interests (versus non-interests).
It’s well written, very readable, and I found it compelling: Putin and Israel – a complex and multi-layered relationship

Posted by: Grieved | Dec 23 2015 22:01 utc | 31

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone here at MoA.
@ B, thank you very much for your posts and all the hard work that went into them.
Best wishes for 2016 and hoping we all get through that year safely … ??? … !!!

Posted by: Jen | Dec 24 2015 0:12 utc | 33

Congratulations b for another year of resistance against injustice, oppression, lies, deceit, murder, impunity, and war crimes. Very grateful for this enlightening platform you provide for all of us willing to dig further into the surface of the delusional reality projected by the empire and its MSM stenographers.
Merry Christmas and a Happier 2016 for you and all the comrades that keep MoA going with sound posting and insightful comments.
From the wolf den,
Lone Wolf

Posted by: Lone Wolf | Dec 24 2015 0:44 utc | 35

Sadly, my grammar police credentials are only valid for English.
I went from memory on the Russian. As soon as I posted, I thought, “Shouldn’t that take the genitive plural? Ah, not to worry, no one will catch it….”
Found it in a short article on the BBC Ukrainian service. “Госслужбе по чрезвычайным ситуациям (ГСЧС).” “State Service for Emergency Situations,” i.e., disaster response/relief.
Not a good spot to invest in, let alone live in. I particularly liked that lively cabinet meeting.

SAAKASHVILI: You’re a thief!
AVAKOV: Barnstormer! Fibster and barnstormer!
SAAKASHVILI: You are a thief!
AVAKOV: Sh1thead!
SAAKASHVILI: I was invited to the country to accomplish the tasks [and] not to be engaged in the political fraudulence.
AVAKOV: Damn liar!

No doubt Carter and Kerry mix it up like that down in the West Wing.
Kyiv Post has various reports of alleged violations, I can’t figure out if it’s really renewed war or ongoing distraction. Gingering up the front might induce at sense of unity in Kiev, perhaps. I recall seeing similar reports of cease-fire violations from the NAF earlier this month. So if the U.S. is ratcheting down in Syria, is it then ratcheting up in the Ukraine?
In the spirit of the season, one of my favorite Christmas Songs. “Hey Santa, pass us that bottle, will ya!” Cheers, folks.

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 24 2015 1:18 utc | 37

in re 22 —
Here’s a very good reason why Donald Trump is more of a fascist than matriarch of the vaguely center-left Clinton clan. Red Star over Donbass sees the oligarch Trump as an Enemy of U.S. workers and no friend of Russia, either.

Few people took Trump’s campaign seriously at the beginning because of his reputation as an egotist and buffoon. However, the combination of vast media attention and the capitalist crisis of unemployment and low wages has created fertile ground for him, and a proto-fascist movement has begun to coalesce in support of his campaign. This has included increasing violence by supporters against protesters at his campaign rallies, and acts of terrorist violence by those who support him and his rhetoric (against Muslim communities, women’s health clinics, etc.)

Fascism has a particular meaning, derived from the historical experience of the Twentieth Century. Conservative populist, strong/charisimatic leader, deadly hostility to organized labor and socialism, aggressively nationalist.

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 24 2015 1:33 utc | 39

@11 Les
A week or so ago I saw a report of Saudi interior ministry forces operating near the border with Yemen plus they were employing some local militias or tribes. I believe this was not in coordination with the Minister of Defense. Those ministers are rivals. Then yesterday I saw a report that the defense minister is trying to take the interior minister’s counterterrorism budget away from him. As of now he has full control of a larger CT budget and cannot be questioned on his use of it.
The interior minister is more favored by the West.

Posted by: Joanne Leon | Dec 24 2015 2:46 utc | 41

Felice Navidad!

Posted by: ioana | Dec 24 2015 2:57 utc | 43

b. Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for an enjoyable and refreshing 2016. Your contribution to this site is unbelievable. I read a lot and post a little. But this place is a total breath of fresh air compared to the stagnant garbage served up to us by our masters.
“Carry on Wayward Son” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_2IdybTV0.
Skip Cook
Arkansas USA

Posted by: Skip | Dec 24 2015 3:37 utc | 45

Posted by: Lone Wolf | Dec 23, 2015 8:03:14 PM | 34
Al Jazeera, the mouthpiece of Qatar’s royal family and the Muslim Brotherhood funding extreme militants in Syria to overthrow the regime of Assad, is an unlikely source for facts surrounding the assassination of Kantar. Reading the article, I find the info lacking insight and depth, not from an investigative reporter. This Ynet News piece [linked in article Tikun Olam] is exactly the propaganda of Israel’s military with a lot of terror rhetoric.
○ IDF Lies About Kantar Murder Flow in Abundance| Tikun Olam |
The following article from Gulf News gives a better insight into the lifes of Kantar and Al-Shalaan fighting the anti-regime terrorists of al-Nusra, the group Israel prefers to establish itself from the Jordanian border into Damascus, along the western border to the Golan Heights. The Israeli strike IMO was a revenge killing, but also to eliminate a Hezbollah commander fighting Al-Nusra.

Kantar in Damascus ‘a day before assassination’
According to a source in the pro-regime National Defence Committees, Farhan Al Shaalan warned him that sleeping cells were found in Jaramanah, packed with armed men from the nearby Barzeh neighbourhood, a hotbed for the anti-regime insurgency.
National Defense Committees were planning to attack then, and Shaalan had sought his friend’s advice on military strategy. Kantar had been more focused on trying to set up a Syrian resistance in the Golan, along with Jihad Mughnieh, the son of Hezbollah co-founder Emad Mughnieh. The elder Mugnieh was assassinated by the Israelis in Damascus in February 2008 and the son was killed along with a senior Iranian commander in January 2015. With that purpose in mind, Kantar had started spending more time in the Syrian capital as of December 2013. He was coordinating activity with Syrian troops, Hezbollah commanders, and the National Defense Committees, who regarded him as a “spiritual godfather and hero.”
Since news of his assassination broke last Sunday, Syrians have been divided on what to make of Samir Kantar. The government media and its affiliates are hailing him as a “glorious martyr” with the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily Al Akhbar labeling him “symbol of the Syrian resistance in the Golan.”
All border operations from Syria and skirmishes have since been attributed to him. Opponents of the Syrian regime are trashing him as a “killer” and “opponent of the Syrian revolt.” Some have gone as far as saying that he was eliminated by Hezbollah and the Syrians. That story doesn’t stand, however, because not only do they have no business in seeing him dead, both Nasrallah and Al Assad consider Kantar a loyal friend and crucial ally.
Throughout its history, after all, Israel has made a point in eliminating every Arab it alleges has Israeli blood on his or her hands—regardless of how long it took to take them down.

Posted by: Oui | Dec 24 2015 5:19 utc | 47

@45 Think about all the articles cited here on MoA about potential oil deposits in the Golan and it makes sense Israel would snuff out any locally organized resistance. Sad.

Posted by: Lozion | Dec 24 2015 6:26 utc | 49

Kherson Residents Stand United Against Aidar Battalion
“In Kalanchak people have taken up arms and created self-defense units against the gangs who rob stores and induce fear into the local population…”

Posted by: Vintage Red | Dec 24 2015 8:52 utc | 51

More German media – Assad agrees to peace talks and a Syrian unity government

Posted by: somebody | Dec 24 2015 9:52 utc | 53

45
On September 9, 2001, two days before the cataclysmic attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Ahmad Shah Massoud, commander of the United Front guerrilla opposition to the KSA/ISI’s Taliban regime, was assassinated in the Afghan town of Khvajeh Baha od Din by two Arab men posing as video journalists.
Within a week, the Right-Wing Hanging Chad Coup of 2000 achieved total lockdown, and now everything is in place, with TPP and CISA and 1000 other horrors in the $1.2T Omnibus, to turn USA into a Soviet Gulag.
With the assassination of Farhan Al Shaalan, we can expect a similar ‘false flag’ provocation to that of 9/11, to send al-McCain’s Legion of 10,000 into Levant, and complete the dismantling of Syria, …as soon as Xmas sales are over. “Whatever you do, don’t stop shopping!”
The only words more blood-chilling than those, in my entire life, were al-Hillary, as she gloated, “We came, we saw, he died,” right after she watched Ghaddafi being anally-penetrated to death with a bayonet.
2016 will be the year the whole world plays chicken with that monster, or else al-Don, King of the Adelson Mob. Same schtuff, same outcome: this will be the year global recession deepens under the Iron Claw in the Velvet Glove of American Exceptionalism. Already $100Ms from the Omnibus are being placed into RFPs for white papers and national media advertising to sell the Carbon Caliphate, then wholesale privatization of America’s national energy infrastructure by the Globalist Mob.
Every Student Succeeds in the Brave New World of PPV Todos.

Posted by: Chipnik | Dec 24 2015 11:19 utc | 55

I would like to thank you B for the outstanding analyzis and the information you are sharing. I´m SO glad that I finally found this site.
I would also like to thank your readers for relevant comments and for sharing their opinions.
I wish you happy holidays and a strong and healthy 2016.
P.S Since I´m a “new” reader I would to know why The Saker isn´t appreciated?

Posted by: athanasios | Dec 24 2015 13:20 utc | 57

Administration defends arming terrorists because it was in talks with Assad administration “for years” and failed to get him to step aside in an arranged deal or through a military coup
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-pursued-secret-contacts-with-assad-regime-for-years-1450917657

Posted by: Les | Dec 24 2015 14:44 utc | 59

rufus @58
… is not to endorse either.

That’s why they call it “lesser evil voting”.

I argued (as I often do) for clarity and precision in language.

But you don’t walk the walk.

The gutting of the American working class began long before Clinton.

“He did it first!”

I find “fascism” to still be descriptive and useful…

You’ve used it to make Clinton and Israel look good in comparison.

I cannot be responsible for the loose usage of others…

LOL!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Dec 24 2015 17:37 utc | 61

Thanks for all the efforts with this site…! Its author and contributors are top shelf. Blog has its finger on the pulse…always a great visit here..
And with that, seasons greetings to everyone…i wish you all a very moderate new year.

Posted by: MadMax2 | Dec 24 2015 17:59 utc | 63

@56, I don’t think Bush, Clinton et al are idiots. I think they understand completely, if implicitly, that fostering endless wars all over the world is the only way that those who can afford it will enjoy the American Way of Life. I don’t know quite what Trump has in mind, but as far as I know he’s the only one to even bring up this paradigm.

Posted by: ruralito | Dec 24 2015 19:53 utc | 65

From a lurker behind the Cheddar Curtain….thanks much to b and those who comment here for this educational blog. Merry Christmas!

Posted by: polka_tulk | Dec 24 2015 22:04 utc | 67

Yuletide greetings to all MOAers, from whom I have learned much.
And brightest of tidings to b, our host.
A glass raised in your honor and to your health! Prost!

Posted by: Benu | Dec 25 2015 2:37 utc | 69

ruralito @64: I only said Bush Jr. was/is an idiot, and that includes the ahistorical, near-sighted, see-Israel’s-interest-only advisor corps his minders assembled. Yes the PTB want constant war and fear, but they also want to win that constant war and continue to expand the financiers’ empire. ‘Losing’ Iraq was a decisive defeat in the Great Game. Bush’s advisers in 2001-2002 wrongly thought that game was over …

Posted by: fairleft | Dec 25 2015 5:12 utc | 71

Wishing each one here and especially our host, the gift of life, hope and peace that we celebrate at this time. Merry Christmas

Posted by: moreorles | Dec 25 2015 7:37 utc | 73

more on Israel’s complex Druze relations

Jabhat al-Nusra have insisted they are not intent on killing Druze, a sect that hardline “jihadists”(terrorists) consider to be heretical or apostate from true Islam. They even killed 20 Druze in a village in northern Syria in a dispute over property.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Forces temporarily declared an area in the northern Golan Heights a closed military zone.
The move was done “in order to prevent gatherings near the border, which would interfere with IDF—Israeli forces— activities, and was not related to the fighting in Syria”, an IDF spokesman said in a statement to The Telegraph.
The closure, which lasted for several hours, came amid concerns that the Druze in Israel and the Golan Heights may congregate and even attempt to breach the border into Syria in order to save their brethren.
There are also Druze in Israel itself. A Druze former MP, Salah Tarif, told Israel’s Walla News website: “We are ‘at the ready’, so that if there is something that will require our intervention, we will not hesitate to do it.”

Posted by: somebody | Dec 25 2015 10:58 utc | 75

bbc
*Some of the largest oil fields China operates are in areas controlled by fighters backing Riek Machar, the country’s vice-president until he was sacked in July.
Oil production has already dropped by 20% since the onset of the conflict three weeks ago and more than 300 Chinese workers have been evacuated.
The spectre of their Libyan experience also weighs heavily on the Chinese minds – project after project now lies deserted because of heavy fighting during the Arab Spring uprising of 2011, inflicting huge losses on China.* [1]
such stories keep popping up lately, some almost bordered on gloating, as *terrarists* attacks on chinese seems to be the fastest growing *sport* these days.
such bland narrative of china’s apparent misfortune might lead those uninitiated to think that its all about beijing’s ass luck , that its mega investments from asia to africa kept being derailed by *civil wars*, *terrarist attacks*, bio pandemic…..
but it should be open secret to anybody paying attention, who engineered the balkanisation of sudan, thus effectively cutting chinese operated pipe line into half. when those indefatigable chinese continue to do biz with the newly minted south sudan govn, the same dark hand continue to foment *civil war* to torment the chinese. [2]
as in libya, who orchestrated a bloody regime change to drive out the chinese en mass ?
*Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in the Ethiopian capital on Monday and made it clear that China wanted both sides to stop fighting and seek a reasonable and rational way out.
According to media reports, he was even willing to mediate personally between the warring sides.
It is unclear if Mr Wang has been able to do this, but his message was important, reports the BBC’s Emmanuel Igunza from Addis Ababa.
It demonstrates how seriously the international community is taking the crisis – with many diplomats present at the talks, he says.
Apart from China’s Africa envoy Zhong Jianhua, US special envoy Donald Booth and EU special representative Alexander Rondos are also attending.*
may be im just too cynical, but wasnt that a smirk on US special envoy Donald Booth [sic] face,like he was thorougly enjoying himself ?
the arsonist back at the crime scene as firefighter, works like a charm since 1875.
*Two years ago, China suffered heavy losses in its Libyan projects, including infrastructure, telecommunications and oil.
Many constructions were halted and sites looted or destroyed during the revolution which toppled long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The total loss was estimated by several Chinese media reports to be in the region of $20bn, although no official figures exist.
Compensation talks with the new Libya government stalled as their priority was very much on nation-building and improving the living conditions of the Libyan people. *
hehehehe
*In 2008, five Chinese oil workers kidnapped by rebels in Sudan’s South Kordofan province were killed during a rescue attempt.*
chinese engineers killed by terrarists in afpak, africa, the stans, the mekong, ph,…..
top level exe died in numerous *air disasters*.
just last mth, three top men from chinese rail were bumped off by terrarists in mali, the month before, a chinese worker executed by isis.
not that this has stopped those indomitable chinese, who keep fanning out all across the world to do what has to be done.
mind u, it was the unitedsnake which keep issuing worldwide travel alert to its citizens, while admitting that murkkans have not been targetted by terrarists so far. !!!
*But what is currently happening in South Sudan seems far more serious than kidnappings.
China must be praying for a quick end to the trouble so life on the oil fields can return to normal.
In the meantime, some experts also predict that China might be forced into re-thinking its high-risk oil strategy. *
CAPITAL IDEA !
somehow i got this feeling that somebody out there have been trying their damndest to *persuade* the chinese along that way.
hehehehe
[1]
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-25654155
[2]
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/16/obamas-war-in-south-sudan/
p.s.
sorry for spoiling the festive mood !

Posted by: denk | Dec 25 2015 15:37 utc | 77

@psychohistorian@72
Thanks for the xinhuanet link, a very good narrative on UN Resolution 2254.
Here is another take by Thierry Meyssan, not one of my favorites, but worth the read.
From the Geneva Communiqué to Resolution 2254

Posted by: Lone Wolf | Dec 26 2015 0:22 utc | 79

…and second, I am afraid I am going to vomit at finding Russia’s relations to Israel are based on a purely pragmatic, unprincipled, and immoral platform, with the Palestinian people and just cause being sacrificed in the altar of geopolitics.
…
Posted by: Lone Wolf | Dec 25, 2015 8:02:58 PM | 81
Don’t fret. If you’d been following RT’s coverage of “Israel’s” most recent experiments in wholesale slaughter, lying and vandalism in Gaza, you’d be left in no doubt that Russia’s ‘friendship’ with and ‘support’ for “Israel” are about as sincere as their hopiness toward AmeriKKKa, ISIS, and USrael’s “Syrian Rebels”.
“Israel’s” recent decision to jump into bed with Turkey was an act of dopiness born of fear and desperation. Bibi is possibly the only “leader’ on the planet sufficiently crazy and self-absorbed to believe that one can be a Good Friend of Russia and a Good Friend of Turkey at the same time. The only way Bibi’s declaration of Israel-Turkey symbiosis makes sense is if the AmeriKKKans have told Bibi “If you give Putin the shits then you’ll be cleaning up the mess on your own.”

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 26 2015 1:53 utc | 81

@77
When you call yourself a socialist, rufus – many times over, and often with special emphasis – but write a comment that supports lesser-evil voting for Hillary…
AND, claim that Hillary is “vaguely center-left” when she has been criticized repeatedly by the left for her support for neo-liberals and neocons (she seems to be very much like a female-version of Obama)…
THEN claim to be an advocate for “clarity and precision in language”, you should expect some push-back.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
PS IMO Hillary signaled her political positioning in her announcement video. Hanging the picture at the beginning of the video symbolically indicates her CENTRIST orientation. She is NOT ‘center-left’, just ‘center’.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Dec 26 2015 4:02 utc | 83

rufus @58:
I like interacting with you, since, for example, it helps me learn to articulate what bugs me and many about the word ‘fascist/fascism’. It’s a way of saying a person is extremely bad, untouchably bad, without saying what specifically you dislike about him/her. (Part of its effectiveness is that it mixes up blowhard trolls like Trump with undeniable monsters like Mussolini and Hitler, discussion-enders from the preceding century.)
Why not just say what it is that bothers you about Trump? If it’s the racism, fine. Just say “Trump is a racist and that’s so terrible I hope Hill wins instead of him.” Simplistic but at least understandable.
OTOH, if you want to go the “Trump is a fascist and that’s so terrible I hope Hill wins instead of him” then just define your fascism essentials and tell us how Trump meets those criteria and Hill doesn’t.

Posted by: fairleft | Dec 26 2015 5:55 utc | 85

in re 86, 87 —
As soon as you kids fully work out your scheme to overthrow capital before the elections next year, get back to me. “Not building a wall, but making a brick.” – B. Eno.

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 26 2015 16:56 utc | 87

Oops… that should be exceptional! not extraordinary

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Dec 26 2015 21:58 utc | 89

in re 89, 90
You have no known political experience, substitute attacking straw men for real analysis, and not surprisingly cannot specify actual means of change.
But you affect to police discussion of politics.
It’s a simple question, really — how does revolutionary change come about, and why won’t you have that accomplished in 10 mos.?

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 27 2015 2:26 utc | 91

Posted by: Willy2 | Dec 26, 2015 6:06:43 PM | 91
Pape’s Dying To Win was a painstakingly researched & documented, case-by-case rebuttal of Neocon accusations of insanity directed at Muslims who were committing “motiveless crimes” against their ‘innocent’ pro-Israel oppressors.
It would be an ideological U-turn for him to pretend not to have noticed how Neocon-ish ISIS’s objectives and activities are. But to then claim that ISIS is as predictable, in exactly the same way as the anti-oppression jihadis he originally wrote about were, would be beyond laughable.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 27 2015 4:45 utc | 93

in re 93
How nice of Santa to leave you a nice, shiny new Thought Police badge! And you got right down to playing with it.
So lacking in political experience, you have no political program, apart from talking smack about me. Even though your such a fool that you mistake description for endorsement.
The facts don’t seem to matter to you. How ’bout this little trip down memory lane? Plenue at 199 was speaking specifically about Naked Capitalism, but it seems to apply generally.

You don’t actually read much NC. Or if you do, you have some sort of filter in your brain that means you only see what you want to see.

Apparently comes in quite handy in crafting straw men.

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 27 2015 12:19 utc | 95

in re 87 —
You’re really workin’ that badge you got for Christmas. You’re not bucking for a promotion in the Thought Police, are you? You look like a fine mid-level functionary material to me.
You never did produce your “List of Approved Thoughts and Sites That Support Them.” I thought you had some volunteers helping you with that. It would be just the sort of thing to get you in good with MiniTrue. Maybe a list of words, phrases, and ideas to be avoided would be easier.
You’re not going to try to get me banned again, are you?
Only in your solipsistic parallel universe is saying Trump is more like a fascist than Mrs. Clinton some sort of endorsement. I argued this point to The Hauge at 20, who felt Trump mainstream and Clinton a fascist. Yet somehow you then seize upon this to fabricate some sort of charge of “lesser evilism.”
So you’re not going dispute the point about the little filter in your head, then, just my bad taste in quoting only the bottom line Plenue drew from your exchange? I think you should post the whole thing, so we all see what a clever little bunny you are. And about about a page or two of links for the backstory, too, please.
I do not support Sanders, though I know people who do. I believe I have said that to the degree that he makes any sort of discussion of socialism topical, even the revisionist social-democratic variety, his campaign may offer opportunities to other tendencies. “Not building a wall, but making a brick.”

Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 27 2015 19:08 utc | 97

As fairleft pointed out, you could’ve just noted the ‘proto-fascism’ qualities of Trump’s campaign – as others have – but you instead chose to use that to support Hillary as the lesser-evil. And since doing that, you have tried to obfuscate and bullsh!t your way out of the hole that you dug.
Yeah, someone that poses as something that they are not and supports immoral acts like State murder should be banned. It is reprehensible and wastes reader’s time.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Dec 27 2015 19:42 utc | 99