This column was written for the Unz Review: http://www.unz.com/tsaker/week-nine-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-the-empire-strikes-back/
Considering the remarkable success of the Russian intervention in Syria, at least so far, it should not have come as a surprise that the AngloZionist Empire would strike back. The only question was how and when. We now know the answer to that question.
On November 24th the Turkish Air force did something absolutely unprecedented in recent history: it deliberately shot down another country’s military aircraft even though it was absolutely obvious that this aircraft presented no threat whatsoever to Turkey or the Turkish people. The Russian Internet is full of more or less official leaks about how this was done. According to these versions, the Turks maintained 12 F-16 on patrol along the border ready to attack, they were guided by AWACS aircraft and “covered” by USAF F-15s in case of an immediate Russian counter-attack. Maybe. Maybe not. But this hardly matters because what is absolutely undeniable is that the USA and NATO immediately took “ownership” of this attack by giving their full support to Turkey. NATO went as far as to declare that it would send aircraft and ships to protect Turkey as it it had been Russia who had attacked Turkey. As for the USA, not only did it fully back Turkey, it now also categorically denies that there is any evidence that Turkey is purchasing Daesh oil. Finally, as was to be expected, the USA is now sending The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group into the eastern Mediterranean, officially to strike Daesh but, in reality, to back Turkey and threaten Russia. Even the Germans are now sending their own aircraft, but with the specific orders not to share any info with the Russians.
So what is really going on here?
Cartoon by NaT Cartoonist and illustrator Site: http://natcartoons.daportfolio.com/
Simple: the Empire correctly identified the weakness of the Russian force in Syria, and it decided to use Turkey to provide itself an element of plausible deniability. This attack is probably only the first step of a much larger campaign to “push back” Russia from the Turkish border. The next step, apparently, includes the dispatching of western forces into Syria, initially only as ‘advisors’, but eventually as special forces and forward air controllers. The US and Turkish Air Forces will play the primary role here, with assorted Germans and UK aircraft providing enough diversity to speak of an “international coalition”. As for the French, stuck between their Russian counterparts and their NATO “allies”, they will remain as irrelevant as ever: Hollande caved in, again (what else?). Eventually, NATO will create a de-facto safe heaven for its “moderate terrorists” in northern Syria and use it as a base to direct an attack on Raqqa. Since any such intervention will be completely illegal, the argument of the need to defend the Turkmen minority will be used, R2P and all. The creation of a NATO-protected safe heaven for “moderate terrorists” could provide the first step from breaking up Syria into several smaller statelets.
If that is really the plan, then the shooting down of the SU-24 sends a powerful message to Russia: we are ready to risk a war to push you back – are you ready to go to war? The painful answer will be that no, Russia is not prepared to wage a war against the entire Empire over Syria, simply because she does not have the capabilities to do so.
As I have already mentioned many times now, Syria is beyond the Russian power projection capability (roughly 1000km), especially if that power projection has to be executed through hostile territory (which Turkey most definitely is). So far, the Russians have succeeded, brilliantly, to organize and support their small force in Syria, but that in no way indicates a Russian capability to support a major air operation over Syria or, even less so, a ground operation. The fact is that the Russian intervention in Syria was always a risky and difficult one, and it did not take the Empire much time to capitalize on this. Though I get a lot of flak from flag-wavers and “hurray patriots” for saying this, but the fact is that Russia cannot ‘protect’ Syria from the US, NATO or even CENTCOM. At least not in purely military terms. This does not mean that Russia does not have retaliatory options. Russia has already engaged in the following:
Economic sanctions: Russia has declared a number of sanctions against Turkey, including the freezing of the Turkish Stream project. Furthermore, Russian tourism in Turkey – a huge source of revenue – is most likely to dwindle down to a tiny what it used to be: Russians will not be banned from going to Turkey, but no tours or packages will be offered by Russian travel agencies. Some Turkish goods will be banned in Russia, and Turks will not be invited to bid for various types of contracts. All in all, these sanctions will hurt Turkey, but not in a major way.
Political sanctions: here Russia will use one of her most terrifying weapons: the truth. The Russian military presented a devastating series of photos and videos shot by Russian air and space assets proving that Turkey does, indeed, purchase oil from Daesh. What was especially shocking about this evidence is that it showed the truly immense scale of the smuggling: one photo showed 1’722 oil trucks in in Deir Ez-Zor region while another one showed 8’500 oil tankers are used by Daesh to transport up 200’000 barrels of oil. What these figures mean is that not only is this smuggling organized at the level of the Turkish state, but it is also absolutely obvious that the USA knows everything about it.
Predictably, the western media made no mention of the actual evidence, it only spoke of “images the Russians claim to show”, but the damage is still done, especially in the long term. Now everybody with a modicum of intelligence knows that Erdogan is a lying crook. More importantly, it has now become undeniable that Turkey is not only an ally, but a patron and sponsor of Daesh. Finally, in the light of this evidence, it also becomes rather obvious why Turkey decided to shoot down the Russian SU-24: because the Russians were bombing the Daesh to Turkey smuggling routes.
The final blow to the prestige and credibility of Erdogan and Turkey came from Vladimir Putin himself who, in his annual address to the Parliament said:
We know who are stuffing pockets in Turkey and letting terrorists prosper from the sale of oil they stole in Syria. The terrorists are using these receipts to recruit mercenaries, buy weapons and plan inhuman terrorist attacks against Russian citizens and against people in France, Lebanon, Mali and other states. We remember that the militants who operated in the North Caucasus in the 1990s and 2000s found refuge and received moral and material assistance in Turkey. We still find them there.
Meanwhile, the Turkish people are kind, hardworking and talented. We have many good and reliable friends in Turkey. Allow me to emphasize that they should know that we do not equate them with the certain part of the current ruling establishment that is directly responsible for the deaths of our servicemen in Syria.
We will never forget their collusion with terrorists. We have always deemed betrayal the worst and most shameful thing to do, and that will never change. I would like them to remember this – those in Turkey who shot our pilots in the back, those hypocrites who tried to justify their actions and cover up for terrorists.
I don’t even understand why they did it. Any issues they might have had, any problems, any disagreements we knew nothing about could have been settled in a different way. Plus, we were ready to cooperate with Turkey on all the most sensitive issues it had; we were willing to go further, where its allies refused to go. Allah only knows, I suppose, why they did it. And probably, Allah has decided to punish the ruling clique in Turkey by taking their mind and reason.
But, if they expected a nervous or hysterical reaction from us, if they wanted to see us become a danger to ourselves as much as to the world, they won’t get it. They won’t get any response meant for show or even for immediate political gain. They won’t get it.
Our actions will always be guided primarily by responsibility – to ourselves, to our country, to our people. We are not going to rattle the sabre. But, if someone thinks they can commit a heinous war crime, kill our people and get away with it, suffering nothing but a ban on tomato imports, or a few restrictions in construction or other industries, they’re delusional. We’ll remind them of what they did, more than once. They’ll regret it. We know what to do.
Of course, in a society thoroughly habituated to lying, dishonesty and hypocrisy, these are “only” words, and they shall be ignored. But in the Middle-East and the rest of the world, these are powerful words which the Turks will have a very hard time “washing off” from their reputation.
Military measures: these are limited, of course, but not irrelevant. First, Russia has now admitted that S-400 are now in Syria (I suspect they were there all along). Second, Russia has began building a 2nd air base, this time in Shaayrat, in central Syria. If this base is indeed built, then bringing in a few Russian AWACS and/or MiG-31s would make sense. Third, Russia will now used more modern SU-34 equipped with advanced air-to-air missiles in northern Syria and Russian strike aircraft will now be escorted by dedicated SU-30SM fighters. This combination of measures will make it much harder for the Turks to repeat such an attack, but I personally doubt that they have any such intentions, at least not in the immediate future.
Evaluation:
In order to fully understand what is happening now we need to look at the bigger picture. The first major consequence of the shooting down of the Russian SU-24 is that NATO has now become an impunity alliance. Now that the precedent has been set by Turkey’s act of war on Russia, because that is what this shooting down undeniably was, any NATO member can now do the same thing while feeling protected by the alliance. If tomorrow, say, the Latvians decide to strafe a Russian Navy ship in the Baltic Sea or if the Poles shoot down a Russian aircraft over Kaliningrad, they will immediately get the ‘protection’ of NATO just like Turkey now did: the USA will fully endorse the Latvian/Polish version of the events, the Secretary General of NATO will offer to dispatch more forces to Latvia/Poland to “protect” these countries from any “threat” from “the east” and the world’s corporate media will turn a blind eye to any evidence of Latvian/Polish aggression. This is an extremely dangerous development as it gives a strong incentive to any small country to deal with its inferiority complex by should its “courage” and “determination” to challenge Russia even if, of course, this is done by hiding behind NATO’s back.
NATO is also deliberately escalating its war on Russia by admitting Montenegro into the Alliance and by re-starting talks about admitting Georgia. In a purely military sense, the incorporation of Montenegro into NATO makes no difference whatsoever, but in political terms this is yet another way for the West to thumb its nose at Russia and say “see, we will even incorporate your historical allies into our Empire and there is nothing you can do about it”. As for Georgia, the main purpose behind the discussion of its incorporation into NATO is to vindicate the “Saakashvili line”, i.e. to reward aggression towards Russia. Here again, there is nothing Russia can do.
We thus are facing an extremely dangerous situation:
- The Russian forces in Syria are comparatively weak and isolated
- Turkey can, and will, continue its provocations under the cover of NATO
- The West is now preparing an (illegal) intervention inside Syria
- The western intervention will be made against Syria and Russia
- NATO politicians now have an easy way to score “patriotic” points by provoking Russia
If we strip all the NATO verbiage about “defending our members” what is happening now is that the Empire has now apparently decided that going down the road to war is safe because Russia will not dare to “start” a war. In other words, this is a game of chicken in which one side dares the other to do something about it. This is exactly what Putin was referring to when he said:
If they expected a nervous or hysterical reaction from us, if they wanted to see us become a danger to ourselves as much as to the world, they won’t get it. They won’t get any response meant for show or even for immediate political gain. They won’t get it. Our actions will always be guided primarily by responsibility – to ourselves, to our country, to our people
What the imperial deep state is missing is the fact that Russia might not have a choice but to confront the Empire. Yes, the Russians do not want war, but the problem here is that, considering the absolutely reckless arrogance and imperial hubris of the western elites, every Russian effort to avoid war is interpreted by the western deep state as a sign of weakness. In other words, by acting responsibly the Russians are now providing an incentive for the West to act even more irresponsibly. This is a very, very, dangerous dynamic which the Kremlin will have to deal with. Putin, apparently, does have something in mind, at least this is how I understand his warning:
But, if someone thinks they can commit a heinous war crime, kill our people and get away with it, suffering nothing but a ban on tomato imports, or a few restrictions in construction or other industries, they’re delusional. We’ll remind them of what they did, more than once. They’ll regret it. We know what to do.
I have no idea as to what he might be referring to, but I am confident that this is not some empty bluster: this was not a threat to Russia’s enemies, but a promise to the Russian people. I sure hope that there is a plan because right now we are on a collision course leading to war. In conclusion, here is a short quote by Putin western leaders might want to ponder:
The Saker
It is not the imperialists that calling for war, it is GOD that wants to punish them. After all America’s atrocities all over the world, time has come for GOD to show it that only him- GOD is the owner of the planet. But first, America and its cohorts will and have start/started destroying themselves from within
After years of following Russia and Putin, I am still baffled about some aspects.
1. Why is Russia and Putin so determined to sell natural gas and petrol ? Why not build petro-chemical factories and produce high-value goods ? Why do they need to send their resources to Germany, so that the same Germany is number one country producer of petro-chemical products ?
Look how much effort and humiliation is spent to build all kind of pipelines instead of focusing, for example, in attracting Russian and foreign engineers from abroad.
Russia is so desperate to sell her natural gas and oil, that sometimes it looks like those brides for sale, who can be found on some websites.
2. We read so many times how smart and intelligent is Putin after each decision that he makes. How come Erdogan fooled him for more than 2 years with the so-called Turkishstream ? And if Putin knew that Erdogan deals with the terrorists, how naive was he to make deals with such a person ? Why didn’t Putin blew the whistle before the downing of the Su-24 ?
3. Quite often there are bad comments about the eastern Europeans. But what do you want form their leaders ? Why should they follow Putin and Russia ? What has Russia to offer ? The same that Serbia received in 1999 ? The broken deal about S-300 that Iran had to put up for almost 8 years ? Sometimes I almost I agree with comments along the line “With friends like Putin, who needs enemies”. Even Assad had to wait until half of his army was decimated with 75% of the country in ruins to finally get support from a 50 years allied country.
4. How is Russia helping the world to open up the eyes about various history lies and the financial scam going on with the FED and BIS ? They are only pussyfooting around some really serious subjects. Why is Russia not revealing the truth about bolshevism and the fact that communism was in fact a form of judaism ? How can they expect the populations from eastern Europe to understand who raped their countries for decades staying in the shadow of Russia ?
5. Why is Russia allow to print rubles only based on how much foreign reserves they have ? Why is the National Bank of Russia a member of BIS ? When it is known that the Romanov’s were killed for refusing to be part of the Rothchild financial mafia ?
6. Do you think it’s wise and normal to have all the hopes on Russia and Putin only ? Is he grooming anyone to follow him ? Is he spreading useful knowledge around the world ? What exactly does he do to make sure other can continue his fight for a free world ? What if Putin is controlled opposition. We will wake up one day to realize we were suckered for years to follow a fake leader and we never had a plan B or plan C. Right now we are all following the one and only plan A, like a herd.
7. Does Putin read economic news from time to time to realize that China has much more interest with USA than it will ever have with Russia ? Building a railway is almost equal to zero in terms of future collaboration. How many business people fly during a week between China and USA compared to China and Russia.
8. What do you think will be left from BRIC(S) in about 2-3 years considering that China icurrency s part of SDR (IMF), that Brazil is on the brink of political collapse, Argentina is gone under USA again.
9. Why do you think it is moral to fight about building or not some pipelines across some country, in order to be able to potentially keep market share in countries which don’t really like you ? After all, can Russia not find another way to get their hands on those stupid green pieces of paper backed by nothing and called dollars ?
10. Why don’t we see real Russian people commenting on websites like this ? From what it looks, more than 90% of people writing here are foreigners. Many educated people in Russia must speak english, so that’s not an excuse. We hear mostly from the same few characters (Starikov, Dughin, Glazyev …) over and over again.
Those are some very tough questions. Number 1,I would have to totally agree with you on. The others I think are much more complicated. I think on number 1,that is exactly what they should do. But to do that they would need the state to do it. Since the business leaders aren’t willing to spend the money on them. A new villa in France, the latest German luxury automobile,and buying up London real estate seems to use all their money up. And since the Russian state economic thinking has been converted to “private” business since the 1990’s that makes it hard to get that done. Hopefully these sanctions have woken enough people up to those problems for that to change.
China’s greatest contribution to a multipolar world is to build the one belt one road infrastructure. The empire fears this, as much if not more than defeat in Syria.
Thus, China should stay out of Syrian affairs for the time being so they they can play the straight man when it comes to building this out. If they were to put troops into Syria it would accomish nothing. The AZ empire would turn the same countries that are against Russia against China. And the infrastructure would never be built. If more ground troops are needed, they will come from Iran.
Keep in mind that Russia could have docked in the artificial islands in the South China Seas to show support for China, but Russia did not. This is not due to lack of support, just smart decision making. There would be no reason to present the world with a Russian Chinese behemoth. Not yet anyway. It wouldn’t discourage the empire and would only scare Nato countries into joining the war.
Right now Russia, China, Iran are supporting each other behind the scenes. That is all they need to do. Russia is in the driver seat in Syria just as China is in the drivers seat for the dollar alternative. It is the west that is desperate and throwing things against the wall in hopes they will work. As long as sound decision making is followed, nothing to worry about.
I have a similar opinion on Russia and China attempts to link together a huge Eurasian economic space. All activities of the last 25-30 years by the USA can be explained if one assumes that the US apparently doesn’t like it (for a very sound reasons, I might say).
Yes Russia can’t stand up to the empirical cabal in Syria by herself. But a coalition of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia will be able to as long as they systematically and progressively dismantle the ISISrael mossaderate “rebels” and the Turkish “advisers”. China is the real dark force here and should add to the Syrian group as the Zionist world power cartel could(and should) be stopped here. I think tho China is trying to play it from both sides, ytring to keep the US as an outlet for their dollar store junk goods, and trying to play with a real money system. This Syria conflict may be the last time the ZOG US empire can be stopped. If China doesn’t get off the fence she may never get the chance to balance the world again.
One wonders why Russia could not sell Syria, at their request, a number of S-400 systems, train Syrians to use them, then step back. Syria might then announce its intention to shoot down every military aircraft that enters its airspace without explicit permission — Turkish, American, British, Israeli, German, French, whatever — then proceed to do exactly that. It seems that the inability to control its own airspace is one of the major deficiencies of the current Syrian state as a sovereign nation. Remedying this deficiency would seem to be a good idea. Russia can’t do it, but Syria certainly can. This would put an end to a very great amount of toxic BS. Escalating violence is never a good thing, but shooting down that Su-24 has thrown down the gauntlet. It is insane that any country on the planet can decide they need to go bomb something in Syria then be able to go off and do it — with impunity. How could this “escalation” make Syria worse off than they are now?
I am sure Russia is planning on it, Dont let all the talk about coalition and partners fool you.Russia is building a missile base in Syria. Directly targeting the Turkish invasion. I think in 6 months when everything is ready we will see Syria start to openly show their capabilities. Getting hysterical before you have the assets to defend yourself only makes the other side wack you before you have to chance to get off the ground. Remember Putin’s words.. We know what to do..
Yes we are heading towards a collision course.
The murder of Syrian soldiers in Deir Ezzor following those of a Russian pilot and a Russian marine demonstrate that the US led coalition is not actually fighting Daesh but in reality the Syrian people, their army and their president Bachar el-Assad.
Turkey, Qatar and KSA have gone too far in supporting the terrorists in Syria and in Irak to step back. Of course these countries have been manipulated by the Empire of chaos managed by Washington on behalf of the Zionists. The later are afraid that if Syria with the help of Russia, Iran and the Hezbollah were able to win that war, Israel’s future could be compromised.
Therefore the Empire is ready for anything including WW3 to destroy the resistance’s axis.
As I cannot see Russia packing back home letting the Syrian people alone, we are heading towards a collision course.
What Russia can do against Nato(Rotschilds Private-terrorist army)?Russia is going to cut off the head of the snake first(USSA)in one day,,later,they will burn with fire the one that give birth to this snake(UK),it’s going to happened either you like it or not,,God is going to judge Babylon the great,the whore that sits on many waters.
NATO: The Russians were simply invincible.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 7:06
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Stumbleupon
(Before It’s News)
Image result for russia military power
In June 2014, the Pentagon conducted a “table top” exercise – a sort of war game between Russia and NATO. The scenario was Russian pressure on NATO member Estonia and Latvia. Would NATO be able to defend those countries?
“The results were dispiriting,” Julia Ioffe writes in Foreign Policy. Even if all US and NATO troops stationed in Europe were dispatched to the Baltics – including the 82nd Airborne, which is supposed to be ready to go on 24 hours’ notice – the US would lose.
“We just don’t have those forces in Europe,” explains a senior US general. “Then there’s the fact that the Russians have the world’s best surface-to-air missiles and are not afraid to use heavy artillery.”
The Russian ‘victory’ was not a one-off. The Americans conducted the exercise as many as 16 times, under various scenarios, all favourable to NATO, always with the same conclusion. The Russians were simply invincible.
In this backdrop, Turkey’s rash act of shooting down a Russian Air Force jet portends grave tidings for NATO. Because Turkey is a NATO member, if the Russian Air Force pounds the living daylight out of the Turks, at least in theory all the other members of the US-led military bloc are treaty-bound to come to its defence.
Although the chances that the Americans will risk New York for Istanbul are smaller than small – which leaves a very nervous Turkey on its own – one can never rule out the possibility of a NATO hothead wanting to attack Russia.
A nuclear exchange will undoubtedly have catastrophic consequences for both sides – and perhaps the entire planet – but there are certain factors that could skew the fighting field in Russia’s favour.
Tactical warheadsImage result for russia military power
Before the use of strategic weapons, Russia could cripple forward NATO bases with tactical – or battlefield – nukes. Russian military doctrine emphasises the use of small-yield nuclear weapons as a war fighting tool early on in a conflict in order to stun and confuse NATO forces, impacting their ability to think and act coherently.
After tactical nuclear artillery decimates forward deployed NATO military troops, Russia could deliver small-yield warheads via intermediate range missiles that could devastate the next line of military bases, while limiting civilian casualties. At this point the US would be faced with the option of retaliating with strategic weapons and face a devastating response from Moscow. A good guess is the option won’t be used.
For, no American president would risk a single US city for a dozen European ones. John F. Kennedy didn’t risk it in 1962 for the same reason – the loss of even one city was too many.
State of US strategic forces
How reliable is the US Strategic Nuclear Command? If you are an American, you won’t feel so reassured after reading that Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton both “reportedly lost the launch code cards that presidents are expected to have on them at all times – Clinton for months, according to a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Carter allegedlysent his out with a suit to the cleaners”.
In any conflict – more so in a high stakes nuclear standoff – morale, training and discipline are key factors. Russian officers who have the job of deciding when and where to aim their nuclear missiles include PhD holders who are required to think on their feet. On the other hand, American personnel who have the same role are beset with alcoholism, depression and cheating.
Nothing can sugar coat the crisis plaguing the US strategic forces. In October 2013, Major General Michael Carey, responsible for the command of 450 nuclear missiles, was fired after drunken behaviour on a visit to Russia. Days earlier, another military officer, Vice Admiral Tim Giardina, with high-level responsibility for the country’s nuclear arsenal, was relieved of his duties after he was caught using counterfeit gambling chips at an Iowa casino.
Think that’s frightening? Check this out. A US Air Force general who supported the command mission to provide nuclear forces for the US Strategic Command was an alcoholic. General David C. Uhrich kept a vodka bottle in his desk and repeatedly drank on duty, so much so that another officer told investigators that “if he did not have his alcohol, the wheels would come off”.
The rot has trickled down to US missileers who have a culture of cheating on competency tests, endangering the readiness off American ICBMs. Again, in February 2014, the US Navy revealed it was looking into allegations that enlisted sailors cheated on tests involving the nuclear reactors that power its submarines and aircraft carriers.
The US strategic forces are also suffering from systemic neglect, with its ICBM bases in North Dakota and Montana reporting “leaking roofs”. The missileers, who work in blast-proof bunkers located 60 feet underground, are forced to defecate in buckets and urinate in jugs, and bring it all back up at the end of 24 hours. How ready these personnel will be when they have to react to a Russian missile strike is questionable.
On the other hand, Russian Strategic Forces are treated as the very elites in the military. The quality of Russian personnel can be deduced from the actions of Russian strategic forces officer Lt Colonel Stanislav Petrov. On September 26, 1983, a Russian early-warning satellite indicated five US nuclear missile launches. Tensions were high between Washington and Moscow after the downing of a South Korean airliner weeks earlier, and Petrov had only minutes to respond. With little additional information to go on, he deemed the readings a false alarm, reasoning that “when people start a war, they don’t start it with only five missiles”.
This is precisely why highly qualified personnel matter. When you’re placed squarely in the cross hairs of the enemy’s nuclear missiles and you’re holed up in a bunker 60 feet below the earth’s surface, then nervousness, insomnia and depression are part of your daily life. Unable to cope, less educated personnel will abuse alcohol and drugs and even exhibit criminal behaviour. On the other hand, educated and motivated officers will keep their cool even in the event of a thermonuclear showdown.
For, a nuclear war may not necessarily involve a quick exchange of ballistic missiles. According to War Scare: Russia and America on the Nuclear Brink, by Peter Vincent Pry, Director of the US Nuclear Strategy Forum, the Russian Strategic Forces are trained to “launch pre-emptive or retaliatory nuclear strikes, survive a hammer blow from a massive enemy nuclear attack, launch follow-on nuclear strikes, and supervise military operations in a protracted nuclear war, expected to last weeks or months”.
In such a drawn out, harrowing scenario, Russia’s nuclear warfare specialists clearly have the edge.
Reflexive Control: Ultimate Weapon
Disinformation, camouflage and stratagem are some of the ways one can influence the outcome of a war. The Russians have taken these ancient arts to another level through the use of the theory of Reflexive Control (RC).
Developed by Russian military strategists in the 1960s, RC aims to convey information to an opponent that would influence them to voluntarily make a decision desired by the initiator of the action. It can be used against either human or computer-based decision-making processors. Russia employs it not only at the strategic and tactical levels in war but also in the geopolitical sphere.
Russian Army Major General M.D. Ionov was among the early proponents of RC, having pursued it since the 1970s. In an article in 1995, he noted that the objective of reflexive control is to force an enemy into making decisions that lead to his defeat by influencing or controlling his decision-making process.
Ionov considers this a form of high art founded of necessity on an intimate knowledge of human thinking and psychology, military history, the roots of the particular conflict, and the capabilities of competing combat assets.
Timothy L. Thomas writes in the Journal of Slavic Studies: “In a war in which reflexive control is being employed, the side with the highest degree of reflex (the side best able to imitate the other side’s thoughts or predict its behaviour) will have the best chances of winning. The degree of reflex depends on many factors, the most important of which are analytical capability, general erudition and experience, and the scope of knowledge about the enemy.”
If successfully achieved, reflexive control over the enemy makes it possible to influence their combat plans, their view of the situation, and how they fight. RC methods are varied and include camouflage (at all levels), disinformation, encouragement, blackmail by force, and the compromising of various officials and officers.
According to Robert C. Rasmussen of the Center for International Maritime Security, “It is exactly this type of application of Reflexive Control that a young Vladimir Putin would have learned in his early development at the 401st KGB School and in his career as a KGB/FSB officer.”
Because every battle is first fought in the head before a bullet is fired on the ground, Russia’s long experience with RC would be a key factor in its existential struggle with the US.
Credit to in.rbth.com
http://in.rbth.com/blogs/stranger_than_fiction/2015/11/30/world-war-iii-why-rusia-will-bury-the-west_545807
http://nunezreport.blogspot.com/
http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2015/12/nato-the-russians-were-simply-invincible-3251076.html
Iraq to Propose Russia Joining Anti-Daesh Airstrikes
MIDDLE EAST
17:03 08.12.2015(updated 17:10 08.12.2015) Get short URL
01600
The Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee will propose to the country’s government to cooperate with Russia in carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS, also known as Daesh), committee member Iskander Watut told Sputnik on Tuesday.
BAGHDAD (Sputnik) — The Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee will propose to the country’s government to cooperate with Russia in carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS, also known as Daesh), committee member Iskander Watut told Sputnik on Tuesday.
“Soon, a meeting [of the committee] with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will be held, where we will propose cooperating with Russia in carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State and in the fight against terrorism in Iraq,” the lawmaker said.
We will see who can do what…..and any attack on Russia will also be answered by Iran. Obviously, while providing boots on the ground as well as munitions Iran has to keep a low profile so as not to get the neo cons all riled up. BTW America NATO will not risk one American city for Istanbul….Putin can do whatever the situation dictates without fear of nuclear reprisal. Those air carrierès will have to be towed out of the Mediterranean after Russia fries their electronics…..then the whole world will truly see that the Emperor has no clothes. AGAIN.
Unfortunately you might be correct: we are moving to WWIII by dancing the dance that led to a WWI.
The KSA cant beat Yemen with a trillion dollars worth of NATO hardware and human software ( advisorès) Anybody who thinks Russia and friends canèt take down the paper tiger known as NATO needs a head transplant. Every report I have read says NATO cant beat Russia in a conventional war in Europe….How far from Moscow to London….Distance from London to Moscow.
Distance is 2509 kilometers or 1559 miles or 1355 nautical miles.
The distance is the theoretical air distance (great circle distance).
A week before Kerwires airbase retaken SAA on death bed.
Bolivarian revolution smeared by petite bourgeois who father hides toilet paper in warehouse and blames government for shortage
Now Russia can’t take NATO over Syria as if they didn’t have allies of their own not one mention of them in analysis.
Ideologically all over map
Limited Front. Its a put on!
Cheers,
RR
Great document and revealing many truths
Great review, although it didn’t seem that NATO was backing Turkey all that much. More like, NATO appears to have decided their man in Turkey, Erdogan, is indeed a turkey and not reliable or competent enough to exercise further influence. NATO will back Turkey only as they see fit, and what they see is MacKinderan scientific militarism for fun and profit, but requiring a more direct hand from themselves.
http://www.sott.net/article/276668-Geopolitics-of-Empire-Mackinders-Heartland-Theory-and-the-Containment-of-Russia
All that happened is that Erdogan found out he ain’t no white man. One version of the endgame, a redrawn Middle Eastern map, partitions eastern Turkey towards an ‘independent’ landlocked Kurdistan.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882
Landlocked Kurdistans and Sunnistans serve everyone in the region who benefits from the black market that inevitably arises to skirt tariffs. Col. Peter’s map even landlocks Syria, parceling the Syrian coast to Turkey. In such an adversarial stew, major ethnic communities might have to operate the way the Kurds do now, with a quasi-legal leadership caste devoted to eluding tariffs on trade.
Apart from the impossibility of enforcing ‘Boycott Israel’, Various intel outfits would be lost without a criminal underground from which to base, a perversion of Mao’s doctrine wherein “The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea.”
If a substantial portion of the local population is corrupt, there is no true national unity or social conscience, only backstab-thy-neighbor opportunism.
Likely against Turkish wishes, the Americans are building their own airbase in Syria to back their Kurds, the YPG. This will be very difficult to remove if and when peace arrives. If the Syrian YPG are to become American’s wards, it will be difficult for Erdogan to censure them.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-building-military-airbase-in-northeastern-syria/5493746
Erdogan and the Turkish MIT appear to have their own Kurdish faction, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). The KRG are headed by the Barzani clan of Iranian Kurds. Overtly invading Iraq and positioning forces at Arsal, just north of Mosul, Erdogan seems to have aligned himself with the Barzani clan of Iranian Kurds, which have a rocky relationship with the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK), with whom he is at war.
Partition of Syria, Iraq (and Iran) is just fine with Turkey, and if Col. Peter’s map accurately reflects similar maps behind closed doors, adding a slice of coastal Syria. They just naturally balk at the partition of Turkey
http://news.antiwar.com/2015/12/07/turkey-refuses-to-withdraw-troops-from-northern-iraq/
The MacKinderan Scorecard indicates balkanization of the Middle East into manageable ethnic enclaves, like the former Yugoslavia, is still a go. Of General Wesley Clark’s ‘Seven in Five’ club, Iraq, Syria, and perhaps Libya appear to be showing far more resilience to balkanization, as each major warring group sees value in their original state geography, at least insofar as the other faction has turf they want/need.
The benefits of retaining the Sykes-Picot borders should be obvious to the Kurds. Unfettered access to sea trade, for example, is far easier as part of Turkey and Syria under existing border arrangements. That’s not stopping NATO from hoping for a Balkan solution.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/former-us-intelligence-chief-discusses-development-of-is-a-1065131.html
One of the reasons NATO is adamant that President Assad must go, is not just pride, its that Assad is probably the only Syrian leader able and willing to represent a united Syrian geography clear to the Turkish border. At this point, removing Assad and his leadership corps would be like de-Baathification of Iraq, in removing a force invested in pan-national identity.
Erdogan probably had his own plans to thwart balkanization of Turkey. Part of which probably meant the removal of Assad and the institution of a new government under his influence that would, first of all, destroy the Kurds. Erdogan apparently missed the part where ME dictators inconvenienced Western elitists by forming effective nationalist tapestries, and his own early success as a more peaceful national figure operating within democratic limits.
NATO acceptance of Assad remaining, if only during a ‘transition’, is acknowledgement that removal will have to be achieved by more clandestine means or a lucky Israeli airstrike.
A Eurasian century apparently must be denied at any cost the Middle East can bear.
That Putin’s every gesture of peace is interpreted as weakness, is not surprising. The game has always been played that way in North America. Americas Aboriginals know all about the penalties for compromising with psychopathic Western elites and their main street fronters.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/28/6-thanksgiving-myths-share-them-someone-you-know-152475
The compador classes from Russia and China will either never understand this pathology, even as it threatens to consumes them, or understand and embrace it as have neocon sympathizers in the West have. They only hear (empty) promises of wealth and power for themselves, at the expense of their own nations.
The neocons are already looking ahead to 2018 and a post-Putin era. Perhaps they dream of usurping the sword of state Putin forged against everything he built.
The bureaucracy of Empire can act irrespective of whomever is in public office in Western countries. They appear to be learning, that who is in power elsewhere also matters little, as long as the agenda can outlast them. After all, many great Native American leaders of war and peace came and went during the era of the North American Conquest, and in the end changed little.
Aboriginal nations of North America’s MacKinderan heartland, the Great Plains, was the last to fall to the colonials. The remade North American Heartland can beat for a long time after the effective death of its polity to fascist mass surveillance statehood.
“They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they kept one; they promised to take our land, and they did.” – Mahpíya Lúta (aka Red Cloud) Oglala Lakota
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/11/30/there-are-no-easy-answers-native-people-and-syrian-refugees'-162601
From all indications, the west is a fraud to the entire globe. Am waiting to see China will stand in the longer runs.
I wonder where are the chinese in this ?
they will be the next on the list of the empire
if they do not help Russia NOW in one way or another
they will be the next victim and hunted down
The only thing curious about China in Syria is the silence surrounding whatever it is China is doing about Syria. China has a presence in the Mediterranean, for example, and are hot after Uygher terrorists.
It may be a deliberate snub, to keep China in its place. Or, just to much to contemplate publicly.
Oddly enough, the Times of Israel is one of the few news sources that carries any regular news on the subject, via Christina Lin’s blog.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/if-assad-asks-china-can-deploy-troops-to-syria/
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/christina-lin/
I wouldn’t count too much on China. They have bitter border disputes with Russia which have lead to wars in not distant past. Russia never sells China military technology before dumbing it down – another bitter issue in negotiations. Neither side wants to see the other get much stronger. There are no ‘brotherly’ feelings between Chinese and Russian peoples either. Not that such ‘brotherly’ feelings matter much. Bulgarians for example have very strong ‘brotherly’ feelings towards Russians, virtually all ethnic Bulgarians do, and yet the governments, both communist and less communist, have been prostituting their services to the West, despite how people feel.
Dear Saker:
While the warmongers scheme and enjoy causing mischief in Syria, the general public here in US is not easy to fool: people here are not ready for war. Even less with Russia!! Thus, I hope that their plans to provoque Russia will fail as always. I hope that Syria may remain unified and if not, I hope that Russia and associates may be able to complete the pipeline to EU and continue their financial growth. Like you say, it is time for USA to become a normal country..
Yes, the Sunnistan/Kurdistan project is certainly still on.
But now that the cat is not of the colonial bag, those plans are by no means moving smoothly apace.
The various Kurd groups – regional and political – have far too many differences. And, intriguingly, there are reports from Iraq of Kurd militias deserting the KRG and joining with Shia militias to prevent the break-up of Iraq. Barzani may have got 8Bil from the Saudis, but he is widely distrusted and uses Erdo-style tactics to shut down media and political dissent. Plus, he has no current political mandate for his presidency.
As it becomes impossible to disguise the whole carve-up as nothing more than a colonial sleight-of-hand to control energy resources through Balkanized ‘statelets’, the militias themselves are not guaranteed to deliver political objectives: they may welcome the arms and money, but turn on their benefactors later.
It should be obvious to even the meanest intelligence that an ISIS-controlled ‘Sunnistan’ and a region-wide, thinly-spread ‘Kurdistan’ will be played off each other by the colonial interventionists, leaving the general population in a state of permanent frozen conflict.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article189562.html
There’s going to be an escalation. Too many parts in play not to be. We know this. Of course it will go nuclear. Some of us have been waiting a long time for the US’s Karma to catch up with it. It should be broken up. Then made to stay home. Turkey too. Sauds should be wiped out. Zionists too. IS of course. Send them to the virgin Goats. There will be no peace otherwise. There’s no other way out. Humanity is in epic trouble. The entire human paradigm / mindset / spirit needs replacing. Devastating war often does that
PS. This just in. Putin told a session of the Defense Ministry’s collegium that “I order to act extremely tough. Any targets that threaten Russian forces or our infrastructure on the ground should be immediately destroyed.”
NATO is comprised of Europeon nations. US meddling in the Middle East has been disasterous for everyone. Is Russia the only one capable of saying no to the empire? Wouldn’t these NATO countries be better off joining with Russia?