by Mister Unknown
I recently noticed a South Front Analysis which suggested that China will likely participate in the Russian-led regional coalition against ISIS, and by extension – against CIA-backed rebels, as well as Chinese separatist volunteers from Xinjiang. Such an intervention would be politically and emotionally satisfying to us and to this audience, and it would clearly be in China’s strategic interests to ensure the coalition’s success in Syria & Iraq. However, any such participation – if it materializes – will be vastly different from that described by South Front. There are a few major details that are unrealistic, so there is a need to inject some nuance on this topic.
Deployment of Liaoning – The South Front Analysis suggested the possibility of the PLAN sending its sole carrier Liaoning, along with a full complement of escorts (including 4 of China’s newest DDGs & FFGs, along with 2 submarines). EXTREMELY UNLIKELY for a few reasons.
- Not consistent with Chinese defense doctrine. As I’ve mentioned before, China takes a VERY RESTRAINED defense posture, even in conflicts that directly impact China’s core interests (e.g. potential conflicts related to China’s sovereignty & territorial integrity, such as Taiwan, South/East China Sea, etc.). For reference, in response to recent US naval provocations in the South China Sea – a region in which China has firm territorial claims and core strategic interests – the PLAN sent a single destroyer to monitor & “escort” the US vessel responsible for the provocation. Let’s face it, while China is clearly sympathetic to Iran, Russia, and Syria, this conflict does not involve China’s core national interests. Even if China contributes to the war effort, it will not be on as big of a scale as sending a hastily assembled carrier battle group.
- Does not fit China’s political stance on armed intervention. China has a strong distaste for the use of force without broad international consensus, and the utter disregard of national borders, especially given that this is the way its chief strategic competitor – the US – operates. Consequently, unless a conflict directly impacts China’s core national interests, it will not use force or engage in armed intervention without UN approval. In fact, all of its military operations abroad are carried out with explicit UN approval – be it anti-piracy in the Gulf of Aden, or peacekeeping in Lebanon and Africa. Given the differences between the West & the regional powers in this conflict, UN consensus is unlikely at this point.
- Liaoning isn’t combat ready. As the South Front analysis already pointed out, Liaoning is still lacking several key elements of a fully ready carrier battle group (CVBG) – be it a full complement of J-15 carrier-based fighters, or ship-borne AEWACS. Moreover, the Liaoning has no experience operating as part of a CVBG. It is unlikely that China would hastily send its most prized naval assets into combat without adequate preparation, in a conflict in which it has no core strategic interests, and be potentially mired in a war without clear goals or exit strategy.
Off-shore ballistic missile strikes – even more improbable. While China has a wide array of conventional precision guided ballistic missiles, such as the DF-15, DF-21, & DF-26, it’s unlikely that such weapons would be used against ISIS, even if the PLA joins the coalition’s war effort.
- The missiles were primarily designed for anti-ship missions. China’s newest ballistic missiles are designed for long-range anti-ship missions against “large naval vessels” (they’re also known as ‘ASBMs’, or anti-ship ballistic missiles), and China has a limited stock of them. That said, this doesn’t mean that the PLA can’t use them for precision strikes against ground-based targets. However, it would be overkill to use such weapons for bombing CIA-sponsored terrorists. The Russians seem to understand this, and have not used expensive, long-range cruise missiles against ISIS beyond the initial salvo against key command & control targets. China also has the option of using older ballistic missiles, but those are not retro-fitted with the latest precision guided warheads, and therefore has a relatively high risk of collateral damage, especially given the large warhead size of a typical ballistic missile.
- ASBMs are currently land-based ONLY. To date, there are no PLAN surface ships capable of carrying ASBMs. Missiles such as the DF-21D & DF-26 are launched solely by ground-based TELs, and are intended for mid/long-range (2000-3000KM) strikes against enemy naval vessels closing in on China’s coasts. Destroyers – such as the Type 052D – do not have VLS tubes that are large enough to carry ASBMs. Even the newer, larger Type 055 class destroyer (still under construction) is not guaranteed to have an ASBM capability for the same reason. While it is possible that the PLAN’s newest diesel submarines can carry ASBMs for testing purposes, but these subs are only beginning to enter service. They’re few in number, their payload is limited, and such subs would have a limited impact on the Syrian battlefield. That said, it is technically possible for the PLAN to deploy 052Ds armed with CJ-10 land-attack cruise missiles against ISIS, but again, the aforementioned principle of over-kill also applies here.
That said, China has clear strategic incentives to assist the Russian-led coalition, and there are more pragmatic ways of doing so, which would provide a far greater contribution to the war effort, at a lower cost and political risk to China.
Strategic incentives for China:
- Contain the spread of terrorism. ISIS & Al Qaeda has been known to harbor and recruit Xinjiang separatists. The defeat of such groups will deprive separatists and domestic terrorists a source of training, arms, potential recruits for future jihad, and safe-havens. Islamic extremists have also been known to spread their influence in Afghanistan and Central Asia. Extremism in Afghanistan is something China has always dealt with, but its spread to Central Asia could seriously disrupt China’s new Silk Road project, and provide additional potential levers for the US to undermine and destabilize China, its periphery, and its strategic goals.
- Enhance mil-to-mil relations with Russia and Middle-eastern partners. Any participation in the Syrian war effort would require close coordination with the Russian-led coalition. This would be an opportunity to practice joint operations with Russia in a real-combat environment, beyond the usual SCO and bilateral military exercises. In addition, this is also an opportunity to strengthen mil-to-mil relations with other regional partners that are traditionally friendly to China – namely – Iran, Iraq, and Syria.
- Safeguard Chinese oil production in Iraq. Sinopec’s oil exploration and production operations will be severely threatened in Iraq, if ISIS expansion remains unchecked. Future potential E&P in the Kurdish regions are also currently a non-starter, given the ongoing civil war. By halting ISIS expansion in the region, the risk to Chinese oil production would be mitigated.
- Counterbalance US regional hegemony. This is the first time since the end of the Cold War, that a coalition of nations is actively rolling back US hegemony in any region, in a coordinated way. By adding its political, economic, and military might, China could help systematically diminish US regional influence, as well as asymmetrically punish the US for attempting to undermine its core national interests in the East and South China Sea.
So, it is clearly in China’s strategic interests to help its partners succeed against terrorism and regime change, and it has multiple options of doing so other than high-profile, largely-symbolic gestures such as sending CVBGs.
- Arm its regional partners. China can provide ammunition and other military supplies (uniforms, medicine, protective gear, night vision equipment, etc.) to the beleaguered Syrian army, as well as its Iranian partners on the ground.
- Deprive terrorists of recruits and supplies. Through multilateral organizations such as the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO, China can help prevent the flow of ISIS recruits, supplies, and funding from China (Xinjiang) and Central Asia to the Middle East. This is also an opportunity for SCO to collaborate with the Russian-led joint intelligence sharing organization in Baghdad.
- Covert/indirect participation in surveillance and combat ops. One thing that the Russian air support contingent seems to be missing is UCAVs. This is a gap that the PLA can potentially fill. The PRC has already supplied Iraq with CH-4B combat drones, which are capable of high-altitude and long-endurance surveillance and combat (each can be armed with up to 6 guided air-to-ground missiles, comparable to Hellfire ATGMs). The PLA could provide Syria and Iran with additional UCAVs, and temporarily operate them under the Syrian/Iranian flag (until China can adequately train enough local UCAV pilots to take over), so as to provide 24/7 reconnaissance against ISIS and US-backed terrorists, as well as disrupt enemy mobility by striking targets of opportunity (e.g. supply convoys, anti-tank emplacements, etc.). PLA drone pilots can remotely operate from practically anywhere (even within China itself), and have minimal ground presence in Iran or Russian bases in Syria.
In sum, the current discourse over China’s potential involvement in the Syrian conflict does not reflect the realities of China’s existing capabilities and strategic doctrine. Hastily deploying a PLAN CVBG provides a lot of political theatrics, but would add little real value to the coalition war effort. That said, China can and should do more to assist in the anti-ISIS effort than it’s currently doing. However, there are far more low-profile, low-risk, and high-value-add options for China to contribute to the war effort, which will be far more impactful than simply showing the flag with a half-ready aircraft carrier, or showing off a few missiles.
Just this past week I read a news article on how Chinese president Xi wined and dined with British queen and made great friends with the Downing Street gang. Perhaps the news was overblown & twisted – but then perhaps not. How would this mesh with China now suddenly intervening in Middle East? Any comments?
That was “all about money” and trade.And since as the article says (I agree with it),China probably isn’t going to directly intervene in the ME, it won’t have any effect. China has never been “really” interested in expansion outside of East Asia.Trade yes,but expansion no.As the article says there are many great ways China could help (and needs to).They boil down to “money,supplies,and stopping more terrorist volunteers”.All three things China could help with,without changing their time honored policy on expansion.
I believe there is something that most people missed in the recent “rapproachment” or “making friends” between China and Britain. What is missed I believe is that China is using the same trick that USA has been doing for the past 50+ years – divide and conquer. Thus the goal of China’s warming up to UK is to try to put a distance between those two. To some degree there is already a success – the Infracture Bank for example, where UK simply ignored the US’s wishes. The more that China can “charm” UK on to joining it’s side, or at least be “less anti-china”, then it’s considered a “win” from China’s view.
I also think many people have underestimated the “importance” of the UK when US is making “hegemonic” advances – take the 2003 invasion of Iraq for example, imo, it’s because of Tony Blair’s all out support of Bush that really helped made that terrible war happened. If it was not for Blair, Bush would have looked mightily isolated in the world’s opinion.
IMHO, I think UK is the smartest of the (Western) bunch. It know when to change direction, from ceding US to the rest of colonies, and stay relevant. Their dealing with China shows they know when to adapt. Very unlike US, and in some extend, Japan.
England and US are siamese twins – there’s no difference…and their base is in Israel for now.
England is the mother of US and Israel…and now is a twin.
I give credit where credit is due. No reason to be too ideological. Adapt to change is how one stay relevant, it apply to country or a person.
Israel is a different animal, and the ultimate racist. It is on its way to self destruct.
UK needs to overcome China’s long memory of the Opium Wars and that is why the need to detach from US belligerence is so evident. China knows its has Hong Kong and HSBC is leaving the UK and that outside the EU the UK will still depend on Germany’s major trade partner i.e. China. It is simply a need for the Uk to to recycle Chinese capital before Hong Kong does
@Alan
Totally agree. The Brits are opportunists and, unlike France and Germany, they know a good deal when they see one. The Chinese know this, hence the charm offensive.
As for Blair, he has become a pariah in his own country.
All people who speculated about china will be very disappointed at the end.
Would it be possible that the US came up with the same analysis the South Front had? Leading to the recent confrontions in the south China sea!
China’s approach to US containment has always been financial. If you analyse the low points of the Chinese and US relationship, particularly those driven by US interference in Chinese affairs you will notice that the US always takes a financial hit roughly 8 to 12 weeks later. Case in point, the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was in August and the first collapse of the US financial system followed 8-12 weeks later in October. The Chinese torch runners had been subjected to verbal abuse from the ‘Tibetan’ activists who receive their control and finance from the USA about 4 weeks prior to the Olympics. This 8-12 week pattern is repetitive.
Look to late December 2015 to late January 2016 for a financial strike on the USA as payback for the USS Lassen incident.
The financial hit approach is in keeping with the Chinese philosophy that war is waged on several fronts with the military aspect being a last resort. This has been used time and time again by them throughout history – a prime example is the Xiong Nu, or the Rouran. These people no longer exist after repeated raids on Chinese territory despite being paid to trade fairly or simply stay away. Once a threshold was reached the Chinese simply destroyed them. The US has not reached that threshold yet because the Chinese have probably calculated that a US collapse is inevitable and at this point the financial system is the best way to hasten it without undue cost.
What indicators econometric or event-driven are you noting in this?
Yesterday I happened to be looking at a rarely mentioned one right from the Fed, & it’s absolutely one of the key ones saying there are very violent chaotic spikes occurring, possibly verifying what you say, ever bigger over a year now plus note that the baseline is doubled higher from a year ago (from $100B to $200B), where Fed has had to inject hundreds of billions (!) instantly to quench them. $600B just the last one just weeks ago!
This data is delayed, so if there was a “message” sent by either side who fired that west coast test missile night of Nov 7/8, it won’t be shown here yet.
Use 1- or 5-year chart selected to see better what I mean:
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/RREPT
Someone is monkeying with the chosen ones banksters’ racketeering franchise.
Great chart! Note large spike Oct 2008 on the 10 year cycle.
In June of 2015, this was big news: “Millions Exposed by Computer Hacking Linked to China (June 4): U.S. officials announce that at least four million federal employees are involved in a data breach by hackers who have been traced to China. The breach is one of the largest ever of federal employee data and involves employees past and present. The Obama administration announces that the breach was first discovered in April of this year, but may have started in late 2014. ” taken from – http://www.infoplease.com/news/2015/current-events/world_june.html
In July 2015 we had: “…Foreign Ministry Spokesperson for China, Hua Chunying, says in a statement, “We solemnly urge the Japanese side to draw hard lessons from history, stick to the path of peaceful development, respect the major security concerns of its Asian neighbors, and refrain from jeopardizing China’s sovereignty and security interests or crippling regional peace and stability.” The legislation now moves to Parliament’s upper house where the bill will be considered there for sixty days before a vote.” Same source, and China sees Japan as a US lackey.
8-12 weeks after June/July 2015 we’re in the August/Sept time frame – note the huge spike at 30th Sept – just a bit after the 12 week period. The 8-12 weeks is not exact, but could have been triggered by either event above – or both.
I simply pointed out that the data are not what “anonymous” thinks. This is not controversial. It is not rude to “anonymous”. It is no reflection on the Saker or the moderators – I don’t expect them to know about money markets and Fed open market operations. It is simply a piece of technical information that might prompt “anonymous” to look more carefully for whatever it is he seeks. Why is even this censored?
Sorry, Anonymous, I’m bamboozled by what appears and what doesn’t. I made a comment that didn’t appear, trying to point out that your graph doesn’t show what you are looking for. It is actually rather boring open market operations by the Fed to help it target short term interest rates while quantitative easing is still ongoing.
China will supply Syria with military assistance. China won’t be fighting the war.
China is closer than ever in history to Russia because Russia will do the fighting. Especially, Russia will act in areas where the US was/is dominant.
China will avoid direct confrontation outside its near sphere. It has no capacity nor will to act militarily under the nose of the US.
Russia is unafraid of US or NATO.
China and Russia are bonded in many ways.
They have the same geopolitical goals.
Each has regions where they must act. MENA is Russia’s zone.
South China Sea and East China Sea are China’s, as well as Xinjiang and Tibet. There they must act. Nowhere else. They left Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Libya when things were hot. Abandoned huge investments and holdings. Gradually, they returned, but with very small PLA presence.
They will share the load in NE Asia, the Arctic and South Asia, Central Asia and Mongolia.
Syria is Russia’s turf. China will assist, not participate.
Maybe years from now they will ally. But their strategic partnership is not an alliance.
If SCO somehow gets going against ISIS as it should, as its charter says it should, then the Chinese will go to war, also. But one reason we hear nothing from the SCO so far, the Chinese must be very reticent to act.
‘Chinese must be very reticent to act.’
It has to, it is currently simply not strong enough to start a war with the US. Plus world’s opinions, especially in the West is still of the old mindset – that the Chinese are “aggressors” despite all evidence. Buying time is the best strategy for now, time is on it’s side, because all indications are US is an empire on it’s last legs, but this “last legs” can last decades….
Yes, decades for those “last legs”. The size, scope and power of the US government capacity is ever-growing, not diminishing. It prints debt and doesn’t need treasure to continue.
It is destroying its societal base and doesn’t care. It has an army that is huge, but it only needs a few hundred thousand contractors and willing proxies to cause chaos everywhere.
Never think the Hegemon is weak.
What balances things in nature is other forces. The counter to the evil of the Hegemon is the quality of Russia and China. Those two civilizations are the good. (I’m not talking their governments, I’m referring to the intrinsic historical civilizational strengths of great peoples who have long histories of dealing with these evil forces that capture epochs and rain hell on everyone.)
ISIS will be gone, but the Hegemon will persist, morphed into something deceptive.
The story has been told. We are merely reliving it as others have and as others will. It is eternal. It is our fate.
@ Larchmonter445 on November 10, 2015 • at 4:21 am UTC
— Re. “the evil of the Hegemon” and fears of some other commenters that China &/or Russia might some day forget about the evilness of the Hegemon and its vassals and lower their shields…
– The boatswain introduces a member of an American destroyer’s crew to the new commander: «Pickpocket, Sir. But good moral character»… About the same type of people, – but of a higher status – from another source: «… Churchill – that’s a guy, who, if you don’t watch him, shall kipe (steal) a kopeck from your pocket. Yes, – a kopeck from your pocket! What about Roosevelt ? – Roosevelt is a different pair of shoes. He only uses his hand to steal higher denomination coins…».
The story about the lowly pickpocket was told to us by a colonel professor (“the new commander”), adored by all of us – his students.
The words about Churchill and Roosevelt were pronounced, – during a talk with one of the Yugoslav Communist Party leaders on the eve of Allies’ “Overlord” operation in France – by Stalin. Who, evidently, chaffed the guy, underestimating analytical capabilities of the Soviet leaders: «You seem to assume that since we are allies with the Britons, we have forgotten, who they are in reality and who is Churchill…».
It goes without saying that neither Vladimir Putin, nor Xi Jinping have forgotten “who is what”, – the real “moral character” of Britons/Anglo-Saxons.
Best regards,
shed
@ Larchmonter445 on November 10, 2015 • at 4:21 am UTC
— Re. the quality of Russia and China… the intrinsic historical civilizational strengths of great peoples who have long histories of dealing with these evil forces
– The countries, cooperating now with Russia both in Syria and in the global fight against the Pimple-Faced Empire, have lots in common with Russia. Their history had armed them with the ability to concentrate, to unite all the internal forces at the fateful hour.
Since all of those countries possess the traits, characteristic of “river civilizations”, amazingly well described by Lev Mechnikov:
— Great historic rivers [Nile, Tiger, Euphrates, Indus, Ganges, Yangtze, and Huang He] possess one amazing trait: all of them can turn the regions, irrigated by them, either into the fruitful granaries, feeding millions of people for the labor of a few days, or into contagious marshes, covered by the corpses of innumerable victims.
Under the fear of imminent death, the bread-giving river made the population combine their efforts in joint work, taught solidarity, even if in reality the separate groups would hate each other.
The river burdened each individual member of the society with a part of communal work, the usefulness of which was realized only later on, while in the beginning its purpose was unclear to a majority of the people…
It means that in such societies a very important role is to be played by a wise Leader/ Chief/ Ruler, capable of not only discovering the need for this work much earlier than the majority of the compatriots, but also of organizing the work in a timely fashion and of leading the people.
However strange it might seem, but those countries have miraculously managed, – during the fateful periods of their history – to produce such Leaders, who could not just slap the wrists of Pickpocket Hitmen, but act in a more decisive manner:
A nightmare for a Pickpocket
http://veselahata.com/wp-content/gallery/karikatury/b6b5c4tjuyt.jpg
Some of the above countries, like China, – and, to some extent, Syria with Iraq – had to regularly unite and rally their people under the threat of river waves, regularly overcoming them during the flood seasons. Since otherwise those waves brought contagious marshes and innumerable victims.
While other countries, – like Russia and Iran – had to behave in the same way in order to counter the waves of invading hordes of Pickpocket Hitmen, regularly trying to grab their riches, or to push them away from the “important crossroads”
Best regards,
shed
‘Plus world’s opinions, especially in the West is still of the old mindset – that the Chinese are “aggressors” despite all evidence’.
Cet animal est tres mechant:
Quand on l’attaque, il se defend.
(“This animal is very vicious; when you attack it, it defends itself”).
China sold its weapons to Turkey and turkey send the weapon to syria rebels.
There are elements left out here, and that doesn’t make for accurate analysis.
e.g., when the U.S. wanted to provide itself with the appearance of clean hands in Afghanistan, it awarded the vast majority of the mineral extraction contracts to its two greatest out-sourced labour markets: China and India.
This is a substantial investment in the region that China would be looking at protecting.
Good news from Syria
Kuveyris.
1. The first and foremost. Assault troops crushed the troops of the Caliphate in the Sheikh Ahmad, who for several days were bloody fights and almost came close to a key track on which supply the Caliphate group recently advancing on Al-Safir and Nasiriyah. Before airbase Kuveyrise left 2 kilometers. Between deblocking troops at the air base and the enclave was only the town Kuveyris Sharkey, through which passes the required road. For him, and unfold the decisive battle that will determine – if it will soon vosstanovae land communication with the air base in Kuveyrise.
It should also be noted that in recent days the army completely regained the territory that had been lost in the course of the counter-offensive of the Caliphate in late October. Align the front at Nasiriyah and Al-Safir, recaptured Dzhabul back and leveled the southern flank of the advancing group. In general, there is the Syrian army was able to overcome the crisis caused operational, repelling the enemy offensive activity and continue the offensive in the former group, while dabivayas success.
2. In the area of Al-Carasso and Al-Khader militants almost managed to stabilize the front and the army for several days can not be here to achieve a decisive success, but to date the military hit upon a weak point to the south of Al-Khader – the front of the enemy and the army cracked again bypasses Al-Khader to the south, freeing several settlements and a large number of areas.
If you compare the cards above, it is easy to see the significant progress in the south of Al-Khader. And in addition to the threats to withdraw troops Assad to al-Khader from the west, there is the opportunity to strike at al-Asa located in the rear of the militant groups holding the front from Al-Khader.
At Al Carasso army repulsed a counter pro-Western rebels who almost managed to align the front end of October. Do not attack Al Carasso in the forehead, the army strikes on the flanks in order to create the preconditions for the formation of mini-boiler that is what is the operational pocket at the Al-Carasso, which is concentrated to 600-700 fighters.
In general, the south of Aleppo, Assad’s army has already reached a fairly large success and currently continues to successfully develop the offensive, and the enemy can not stabilize the front. While the patch up in one place, in another he is cracking and breaking. The task of expanding the control zone to the south of Aleppo as a whole is solved and we visibly see this changing map of the front. It should be noted that good in recent fights have shown themselves Hezbally troops who are fighting better than the regular army.
PS. And one very bad news from Syria.
Militants Caliphate ustroli mass public execution shooting 200 детей http://ren.tv/novosti/2015-11-09/video-u biystva-200-detey-vylozhili-v-set-boevik i-igil-18 (осторожно, the link has a video). What can I say, ugly.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fcolonelcassad.livejournal.com%2F2459514.html
“today, many serious and influential media have exploded the news that terrorists shot LIH 200 Syrian children.
These reports indicate that a Yemeni terrorist group LIH otherwise posted a video evidence of the crime.
However, thanks to the vigilance of our readers found out that it is fake.
Readers have provided us with evidence that the source for the creation of fakes was the old video with the shooting of Iraqi soldiers at the airport, “Spiker terrorists LIH September 2014.”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/46445
google translate
If Pakistan is attacked China will intervene. China clearly said ”Pakistan is our israel*
SCO, newest members, India and Pakistan. Thus, Pakistan will have China, Russia and their “enemy” India protecting them from terrorists.
IS should get into Hollywood action film productions.. Their explosions are HUGE.. If they can cause a blast of like 100m wide with just such a small car based VBIED, imagine what they can do with like a truck or train. They also executed another 200 civilians. Some tribes have been completely wiped out as all the men were executed.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The media office of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) militias released video footage Monday of what it claims to be an explosion targeting a convoy of the militia group near the Garma district in eastern Anbar province.
“Sunday evening, the ISIS organization kidnapped 70 men of the Albu Nimr tribe in the area of Sarsar in northern Ramadi. After a while, they were assassinated,” Na’im Ga’ud, an Albu Nimr leader, told Rudaw Monday.
video..
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/091120151
A terrific news report by Jonathan Marshall at Consortium News provides the first-ever presentation in the West of the event that sparked the demonstrations that sparked the Syrian civil war, and of the entire origin of that war.
Taken all together, the sources, and Marshall’s presentation of them, constitute a solid historical account of how the war to bring down Syria’s leader, Bashar al-Assad, actually started.
Obama knew what was going on. He knew that the Syrian situation wasn’t just “barrel bombs” showing up suddenly out of nowhere, from no cause, and for no reason. He knew more than was published to the public in the American press. His repeated references to “barrel bombs” after the situation in Syria blew up, suggests that he takes advantage of the fact that the American public isn’t aware of such facts. It suggests that he’s playing the American public as trusting gulls, rather than as citizens.
that they are retrospectively publishing something like this, which fails to criticize the U.S. Government itself for having turned down the Syrian Government’s years-long pleadings for assistance on the matter?
Wow. the NAS argues that Assad should have been more dictatorial! That would have helped prevent the effects of the drought? Does nothing that comes from the U.S. Establishment possess credibility anymore — publishing garbage like this in PNAS? Is Assad more of a dictator than Obama? Does the U.S. National Academy of Sciences really think he should have been? How absurd does the propaganda need to be in order for the U.S. to become a laughingstock to the entire world for its ‘democratic’ pretensions? After all: it’s not a democracy. And the one scientific study that has been done of that has confirmed that it’s not. So: the U.S. now insists upon installing ‘democracy’ in Syria, where all polls show that Assad would win any free election (and the latest polled finding is that he’d win at least 55% of the votes) but Obama insists that he must be ousted, so that there can be ‘democracy’ there?
http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/the-uprising-against-assad-was-engineered-in-washington/
Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, nearly a quarter million people have perished and fully half of the country’s inhabitants have been forced from their homes, creating the worst refugee crisis in the past quarter century. Meanwhile, the continuing advance of brutal Islamist factions — which a leading CIA officer in 2013 termed the “top current threat to U.S. national security” — makes the chances of restoring peace and human rights seem more remote than ever.
Many parties are to blame, but certainly among them are interventionists in the United States and its allies who rationalized supporting the Islamist opposition — and refusing to embrace serious peace negotiations — on the grounds that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a uniquely evil dictator. That image of Assad grew directly out of his regime’s brutal response to civilian protests that began in early 2011, soon after the start of the Arab Spring.
But the convention wisdom — that “the protest movement in Syria was overwhelmingly peaceful until September 2011” — is wrong, or at best incomplete. In fact, opposition to the government had turned violent almost from the start, and was likely aimed at provoking a harsh reaction to polarize the country.
Matters went from bad to worse when demonstrators fought back. As one Israeli journalist reported, “In an uncharacteristic gesture intended to ease tensions the government offered to release the detained students, but seven police officers were killed, and the Baath Party Headquarters and courthouse were torched, in renewed violence.” Around the beginning of April, according to another account, gunmen set a sophisticated ambush, killing perhaps two dozen government troops headed for Dara’a.
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/07/20/hidden-origins-of-syrias-civil-war/
US rules of Acquisition
1 Once you have their money, you never give it back.
6 Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.
10 Greed is eternal.
17 A contract is a contract is a contract… but only between the rich US NSA controlled corporations.
21 Never place friendship above profit.
34 War is good for business
47 Never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own
59 Free advice is seldom cheap.
76 Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
98 Every man has his price.
111 Treat people in your debt like family… exploit them.
194 It’s always good to know about new customers before they walk in your door.
211 Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don’t hesitate to step on them.
239 Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
263 Never allow doubt to tarnish your lust for $$$.
285 No good deed ever goes unpunished.
99 After you’ve exploited someone, it never hurts to thank them. That way, it’s easier to exploit them next time
Exploitation begins at home.
When no appropriate rule applies, make one up.
When the messenger comes to appropriate your profits… kill the messenger
Why ask, when you can take?
A good lie is easier to believe than the truth.
82 The flimsier the product, the higher the price.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Rules_of_Acquisition
“1 Once you have their money, you never give it back”.
That sounds familiar somehow… Oh yes, that’s it! “Take what you can; give nothing back”. (“Pirates of the Caribbean”)
thank you for insightful report
Thank you “Mr Unknown” for the insight. I would like to add that Beijing, like Moscow, sees the big picture clearly: the evil empire is on multiple fronts, and it is best for Beijing and Moscow to complement each other’s strengths. The Russian Far East is weak, so the PLN/PLAF must focus on becoming strong enough to fight off a combined USA/Japan/Australia/Taiwan separatist task force. The Pacific branch of the “Anglo-Zionist” empire still has a formidable presence; it was behind the attempted coup in Hong Kong, and is undoubtedly supporting the Taiwan separatist “Democratic People’s” party. The Chinese economy is also much stronger than Russia’s, thus Beijing’s financial resources can help buffer any Russian economic emergencies. China’s PLA is strong enough to fight off terrorists in Central Asia, if necessary.
China’s PLA, on the other hand, has no presence in the Middle East; no logistics would mean guaranteed failure of any Chinese task force. Russia, although stretched, is in a far better position to project its power in the Levant/Middle East. China is also depending on the Russian military to secure the “Far Western flank” against NATO.
Thank you for the great analysis that points out Chinese attitude. I watched carefully the SouthFront analysis about the Chinese approach. Just in case, this SouthFront video appeared on October 14! Today is November 10. Also, a much of speaking in this report absent there and a much of speaking in the videos are ignored.
They must know or suspect China is going to do something big!
That night launch was meant to be clearly seen as a warning.
Just heard on X22 Report now evening 10th here on Rense (not up on his utube channel yet) that USN tested the 2nd Trident II sea launch today 10th but daytime same location as 2 days/nights ago.
(Nov. 9th podcast here most recent)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgUxLORI9ZA
Goes likely with the explanation of this, China’s ‘reaction’ to their displeasure by doing something financial as their warning, noted by someone the other day, & I happened to be going over some
Fed charts just before the post came up.
Select 1-yr or 5-yr chart to best see those monster spikes, hundreds of billions each, since the past 12 months…simple eyeball extrapolation says next one will take 1 trillion bankster bucks to quench it.
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/RREPT
That night launch thingy was not even a Trident II. Not even close.
No footage up of the 2nd daytime test “launch” Monday, but it won’t have the same clarity anyway.
See this short clip–as mentioned other places, the flat, near horizontal path is absolutely wrong not ballistic, that’s not a long missile plume, & if at that speed all the way, it’ll take a week to get to China (or Russia):
But the surprise is right at near the 4:00 mark, likely what they were really “showing off” as a warning under guise of a missile test:
Pete Santilli NOV9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=symz-rX0kdk
China won’t be physically involved in Syria but it’s clear that it’s their money backing and paying for Russia’s expenses bombing the terrorists.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The first undersea gold reserves and the largest gold deposit found in China was discovered after three years of investigations near Sanshan Island in east China’s Shandong province, 1.2 miles below sea level, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported Tuesday.
The new-found deposit is currently valued at over $16.4 billion and is estimated to hold at least 1,600 tons of gold, according to the newspaper.
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/art_living/20151111/1029930176/china-huge-undersea-gold-deposit.html#ixzz3rCLDMH6d
How will China lend Russia a helping hand? One thing is sure: it will be low-key. And Putin is too proud to directly ask for help.
Here is a clue to one of the possibilities: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20151111/1029943551/chinese-media-tourism-boost-russian-economy.html
Chinese tourists are among the world’s biggest touristic spenders. The per capita spending of Chinese tourists to Russia is about $2,000, and last year there were 1 million tourists, spending $2 billion. So with the Russians easing visa costs and procedures and Chinese authorities patronizing Russian tourism, this can easily increase to 2-5 million, = 4-10 billion $/year.
In the long term however, economic cooperation will be decisive, especially the Vladivostok special economic zone