Storm Clouds Gathering – those people make a tight video. Good job. Not new analysis, but excellent compilation of evidence. The video is about 5 minutes and focuses on what kind of terrorists are being targeted in Syria vis a vis the msm spin.
If I am not mistaken, that SCG dude does those videos all by himself with the help of his wife.
His youtube channel became extremely popular (he does a hell of a job) and he was actually making some good enough money out of it in order to support his family.
At which point, youtube (hello NSA) started interfering with his work and started censoring and not allowing him to “monetize” his clips anymore. I think he is struggling now.
Thanks for that info.
Heard of him but no time to follow/listen.
Isn’t there a “ru-tube” out there they could go to, just keep it in english?
He sounds like X22 especially–I believe he’s said he’s mid-40’s & supporting a few kids.
I have noted his daily diary he’s shrunk to 25-30 min from 45-50 better for those with not a lot of time.
There’s a dude DAHBOO7 also on youtube many years–he’s released some shocking stuff; not sure how they’re still allowed an active channel!
The US administration has closed the program of training Syrian rebels
Program worth 500 million dollars did not justify the hopes of the American authorities
“… Moscow, 9 October, INTERFAX.RU – the Administration of U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday that the U.S. program for training and arming Syrian opposition fighters at a cost of $500 million was being closed. As reported, the program did not meet expectations of the American authorities.
According to a senior Pentagon official, the U.S. no longer intends to recruit for training of what are often called “moderate” rebels in Syria to fight the militants of the terrorist group “Islamic State” (IS, which is banned in Russia). The assumption was that trained Syrian rebels would also successfully fight against government forces of Bashar Assad. The Pentagon is closing the training centers in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Instead, it is planned to open in Turkey a small training center for the training of leaders of opposition groups, “capable of calling air strikes by the U.S. Air Force”.
Initially the US had planned to train up to 15 thousand fighters of the Syrian opposition.
At the same time, the AP agency writes that the Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Friday, that the United States within a few hours will announce substantial changes of its program in Syria.
Carter explained that Washington now wishes to focus on supporting the existing military formations in Syria, for example, the Kurdish militias. The U.S. secretary of defense did not give any additional details. …”
There was a comment from a Russian about how funding, arming and training people to kill police and soldiers is not really moderate opposition.. In anyone’s vocabulary it is called state terrorism. Imagine any one else country doing it to nato humanitarian bombers.. There was also some guy talking about the poor Syrians who assad is slaughtering.. after he just bombed a wedding party in Yemen killing over 150 people.
Q; Instead, it is planned to open in Turkey a small training center for the training of leaders of opposition groups, “capable of calling air strikes by the U.S. Air Force”.
R; How are they going to do that when the perps themselves are bombed on the ground and there’s a Russia/Syria exclusive [no] fly zone?
Here’s some collected footage of Russia attack helicopters and Jihadist minions firing at them in Syria.
These clowns obviously don’t know JS about Russian attack choppers.
Nevertheless, the Russians should bring out an armada of [non] fixed wing aviation and exterminate anything that shoots at them.
According to Boris Zilberman [a Russia expert and researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies – where’s that barf bag? Hurry, I’m going to be violently ill!]. “As Russia continues to conduct close air support for the ground forces, they increase the risks to their own forces. It is only a matter of time before we see videos on YouTube of Russian Mi-24 Hind helicopters being shot down.” (Business Insider)
Note that Zilberman knows exactly which kind of helicopter will be ‘shot’ down. I’ve sent him an email asking him to give me the numbers for next week’s powerball money fest.
The so-called “WWIII” is a myth. It will never happen. During 50-year of the so-called “Cold War”, the US never attacked Soviet Russia or vise versa. Both were content with their pieces of world-pie.
1. Israel is the main cause of wars and conflicts in the region. Putin has always maintained “brotherly” relations with the Zionist Jewish leaders, both in Israel and in Russia. Some Russian writers have even claimed that Putin has Jewish family roots.
2. The war against Assad regime, a close ally of the US, France and other western nations, was planned after Assad joined the “Axis of Resistance” (Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas) against the Zionist entity a decade ago.
3. Russia has diplomatic and trade relations with all the players in the war against Syrian people, such as, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Israel, US, Britain, France, Canada, etc.
Therefore, until the “Tumor” is not removed , there will be never peace in the Middle East – even after the so-called “US-Iran” nuclear agreement because Israel wants a “shattered” Muslim world around it – And Russia along with the rest of “Evildoers” are part of the anti-Islam axis. Don’t forget, Russia has annexed several of Muslim lands and Muslims are being killed on daily basis under the guise of “War on Terror”.
Plus, Russians always keep their enemies close ie ‘brotherly relations’.
@Rehmat …”Some Russian writers have even claimed that Putin has Jewish family roots.’
Nice try at using the old AZ trick ‘some Russian writers’ … care to so which writers?
“Russians always keep their enemies close ie ‘brotherly relations’.”
And make a little money in trade with such enemies, on the side?
Russia’s foreign policy is clearly superior to America’s, but I don’t see that Putin has any long term goals to do anything about Israel, aside from checking its unlimited growth and free hand in the middle east (which is something at least). His rhetoric re: Israel doesn’t sound that different than a moderate US politician’s. Putin’s foreign policy seems very close to Ron Paul’s stated foreign policy: an emphasis on sovereignty and mutually beneficial “friendly” relations. Again, this is much better than current US foreign policy, but it’s not going to tackle Zionism at the core.
RE: about the dissolution of the social cohesion of European societies. This man has an important perspective and it is controversial in some aspects but needs to be seen and heart:
Could someone help me decipher this disinformation from 2012: The “Obama administration” is worried that weapons shipped from Qatar end up with the wrong terrorist in Syria and Libya. What exactly is this “Obama administration”? Now we hear that President Obama or “the White House” has been in conflict with the State Department on a number of issues (Ukraine, Syria). Is it correct to assume that the “Obama administration” excludes, not only the CIA but also the Clinton State Department?
U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands. New York Times, December 5, 2012
The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.
No evidence has emerged linking the weapons provided by the Qataris during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to the attack that killed four Americans at the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in September.
But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government.
The experience in Libya has taken on new urgency as the administration considers whether to play a direct role in arming rebels in Syria, where weapons are flowing in from Qatar and other countries.
The Obama administration did not initially raise objections when Qatar began shipping arms to opposition groups in Syria, even if it did not offer encouragement, according to current and former administration officials. But they said the United States has growing concerns that, just as in Libya, the Qataris are equipping some of the wrong militants.
The United States, which had only small numbers of C.I.A. officers in Libya during the tumult of the rebellion, provided little oversight of the arms shipments. Within weeks of endorsing Qatar’s plan to send weapons there in spring 2011, the White House began receiving reports that they were going to Islamic militant groups. They were “more antidemocratic, more hard-line, closer to an extreme version of Islam” than the main rebel alliance in Libya, said a former Defense Department official.
In other news: A Reuters article reveals a critical piece of information that has escaped even the most critical observers of the US-led war of destabilization against the Muslim world.
We knew before that rebel groups in Syria were created and armed by the CIA and trained at bases in Jordan and Turkey. The CIA also operated the commanded and control centers is these two counties.
We also knew that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were instrumental in destroying Libya. Terror armies led and fed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia ravaged the country, often ending up up fighting each other. Later these same Qatar and Saudi led operations moved to Syria.
It has so far been assumed that Qatar and Saudi Arabia acted out of their own national interests; that these two countries and their demented leaders were behind the wave of terror. The central claim was that these two operations were somehow separate from the CIA-run operations. It now seems that what was seen as Saudi or Qatari aggression may in fact have been a CIA operation.
The Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, whose fighters have attended military training organized by the Central Intelligence Agency in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, was also hit last week by Russian raids as Moscow began its air campaign in support of Damascus.
New strikes targeted the group’s main weapons depots in western Aleppo province and completely destroyed them late on Tuesday, its commander Hassan Haj Ali told Reuters on Wednesday via an Internet messaging service.
No, your assumption’s incorrect. “Obama administration” would include the entire executive branch of the Outlaw Empire’s national government, which includes everything that isn’t Congress or Supreme Court.
Theoretically speaking, yes. Practically speaking, things are much more fun.
The Nulands do their own thing. The Pentagon has different factions. The CIA is a hydra with how many heads? GoldmanSachs calls Tel Aviv calls the Saudis calls Qatar to announce this and that. Lockheed Martin runs own weapon-tests with hired mercenaries. Blackwater is involved on more fronts than they can remember. The FBI has own enhanced renditions program. Mossad agents pose as CIA weapons instructor. And so on. The fun has no end.
Extremely,extremely,good presentation of the facts.That cuts through the curtain of BS surrounding the US/NATO/West’s (whatever label you want to put on it) position on Syria.
Another great explanation (especially if you are from the US) was this article.US citizens should all read it:
We hear a lot about Syria in the news (both from our side and the Empire’s stooges).But I think there are some points not talked about enough (if they are at all).Those that love or those that hate Putin almost always agree on one thing,Putin isn’t stupidThe Empire would say he’s devilish,cunning,plotting,etc,etc.And we would say,he’s clever,thoughtful,planning,etc,etc.
So now the question is why did this clever or “cunning” leader commit to going into Syria? He has committed his future and legacy to that move.Failure is not an opinion if he is to survive as Russia’s President. I don’t see him expecting to fail and telling the Russian people “sorry guys,I tried but the Empire was just too strong for us.So I’m resigning now,and leaving.And oh,BTW Xi,your own your own now buddy.Good luck dealing with the US.”
He expects to win.And is willing to follow his strategy (whatever it is) to victory.I think he has thought that it might lead to war.But believes it won’t.But has calculated that if it did,Russia would win that war.He see’s that if he allowed the West to destroy Syria it would allow them to totally dominate the MENA.That they would quickly turn on Iran,and shut Russia completely out of the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans.That they would be emboldened even more on Ukraine.And able to sow death and destruction in Central Asia and unrest among Muslims in Russia herself.So it is basically a matter of life or death for Russia that he win.
What is his plan? I have no idea,other than to say,”win”.Some contours of it are of course somewhat clear.Destroy the terrorists in Syria.And support a victory for the Syrian government.But also to arrange a political settlement that will stop the continued unrest there.All parts extremely complicated and difficult to accomplish.But also all vital for him to “win”.The second clear part (I believe),is to show the World (especially Russia’s friends and enemies) Russia’s military strength.To let her friends see Russia can protect them if needed (and generate arms sales).And let her enemies see clearly why it is a horrible idea for them to attack Russia.Those missiles that hit terrorists in Syria could hit NATO targets in Poland,the Baltic States,and Romania (as well as further West) with only a reset of the targeting dials.
We are in for a “bumpy road” over the next year.Because as much as Putin “must” win.The Empire and her stooges don’t want to lose.They can do what Putin can’t.They can “spin” their loss to their populations and survive.Because unlike their desire for Russia,Putin doesn’t want to actually destroy them.So the loss isn’t as horrifying for them.But nonetheless,they will try every dirty trick in their playbook to avoid a loss.
Certainly he must feel he can win this. And looking at the typical US playbook I don’t really see how they can stop him. If it had been geopolitically workable to do a direct, overt US intervention despite a Security Council veto they would have just invaded Syria years ago. Their indirect tactics won’t work on Russia and in any case have mostly already been tried so there’s little leverage left. Iran is hard to pressure for similar reasons, and especially on this issue because Iran’s list of regional allies is thin and they can’t afford to lose this one.
There is also no way they’re going to get the member states of the EU to get behind increasing sanctions on Russia for the crime of being the people to finally do something that might slow the tide of refugees. Slavish many of the EU member states’ administrations may be, but politics remains the art of the possible. Any European government that proposes right now to help the terrorists create more mayhem in Syria will be in serious trouble.
But Putin might have been forced in even if his hand were somewhat weaker than it is. If ISIS and al-Nusra finished off the Syrian government, the chaos of that failed state would destabilize Lebanon as well; with further American and Israeli help, very likely Hezbollah would be taken down and then both Lebanon and Syria would be new Libyas: Ungoverned free-fire zones, full of militias selectively bought off as necessary in zones key for US profit-making. The entire Middle East would be an American desert, with Iran standing alone for a little while–but very likely the streak of pragmatism in the Iranian leadership leading them to bow to the US fairly soon. The wild card would be the growing cancer of ISIS, but the major point for Putin would be, let Assad fall and very soon Russia and everyone else not a US stooge is completely shut out of the Middle East (leaving China very vulnerable to manipulation of their energy supply). In short, I’m saying Putin too was desperate–he had to do something.
What’s to his credit is that, faced with this necessity, he seems to have planned things out carefully and taken a strong but measured approach–not too weak to get the job done, not a panicked over-reaction leaving a political flank open, and well enough organized to be able to run the operation with speed and keep the initiative, with a good congruence between political objectives, military objectives, and tactics. So often the Americans seem to think that because they have an expensive military all they need to do is sort of throw it in the general direction of a situation and that will get them the results they want; it’s almost at the level of magical thinking where wishing makes it so. Often they haven’t even really thought through just what results they want, let alone worked carefully on how to achieve them.
Both your analysis and Uncle Bob’s are correct, so it just led me to this conclusion: life and history is so strange!
Remember long ago when the USA was worried about the “spread of communism” and “domino theory”, so much so that they go fight a war that should never be fought – the Vietnam war, + bombing Cambodia etc. Now that was (imo anyway) a totally stupid mistake, an unnecessary involvement.
Move forward now, incredibly, it’s the USA+NATO-stan that started up this mess, and in this case, the “domino theory” is REAL!. If Syria were to fall, right after Iraq, Libya etc, it’s clear more will be next, it’ll be never ending regime change for one nation or another that some how is “not democratic”, “tyrannical”, and who knows what other labels, all determined by the US.
Chomsky would say that the domino theory was essentially correct back then too–that the essential thing was to crush “the danger of a good example”, because if people were allowed to make their own political choices it became very likely they might choose not to be dominated by foreign corporations, whether Exxon or United Fruit. This meant, where possible getting rid of governments and politics that might govern for the local people (as they successfully did in Indonesia where they backed Suharto in murdering about a million Communists, maybe-Communists, people-in-the-same-village-as-Communists and so on), but where that was not possible making sure that any country that insisted on going its own way was made into a dreadful example of what happens to you if you’re disobedient–which is what they ended up doing to Vietnam. They lost in Vietnam, but if you were a nearby country would you have wanted to be next?
What’s to his credit is that, faced with this necessity, he seems to have planned things out carefully and taken a strong but measured approach–not too weak to get the job done, not a panicked over-reaction leaving a political flank open, and well enough organized to be able to run the operation with speed and keep the initiative, with a good congruence between political objectives, military objectives, and tactics. So often the Americans seem to think that because they have an expensive military all they need to do is sort of throw it in the general direction of a situation and that will get them the results they want; it’s almost at the level of magical thinking where wishing makes it so. Often they haven’t even really thought through just what results they want, let alone worked carefully on how to achieve them.
Yes, you’re right. I do believe Putin has read Sun Tzu & Chanakya Niti. Both describe how to get into the mindset of your enemy and out maneuver them.
Russia must indeed win in Syria, for all the reasons you mentioned, plus to prevent the prospect of pipelines from the Gulf states to the EU. This is imperative for the Russo-Chinese approach of expelling the US Empire from Eurasia, or at least diminishing its influence.
I am not sure that Russia would be totally doomed if Assad fell, but it would definitely put all of Russia/China and Iran into a much tighter spot.
For China, Iran is a strategic priority. They want the future Iranian pipelines to be diverted towards the East, not the West. So this is yet another interest that Russia and China have in common.
Now, why does Putin think he can win in the ME. Let’s not forget that the ME is dominated by the mighty Central Command of the US Army, and is infested with such regional enemies as Turkey, Israel, KSA, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan etc etc etc. So, the Russians have a committed an extremely daring move. Why do they think they can win? Well, we must examine all the different possibilities for escalation available to the Empire of Filth, and what the Russian response could be. So, in my amateur way, I will attempt to do exactly that.
a) EoF (Empire of Filth) supplies the cursed Jihadis with advanced and heavy weaponry.
What does Russia do?
Well, I think the answer is readily obvious. Supply the Houthis, Hezbollah and PKK (maybe other Kurds as well) with similarly advanced weapons. How would the Turks, Jews and Saudis like that shit? Russia (with the financial backing of PRC) along with the SAA, Iran and Shiites from Iraq would still be able to win in Syria even if it meant higher cost in blood and treasure. But how would the Turks, Zionists and Saudis fare? I think much worse than the Russians. The US must also consider the viability of its Empire. If the entire ME goes up in flames, the US (along with UK and France) would be the major losers (let alone the local Imperial stooges) Russia would be in a RELATIVELY STRONGER position if the ME went up in smoke.
b) What if the US used some of its fancier weaponry against the Russian Force in Syria?
I think Russia is clearly demonstrating that they can respond to such kind of escalation against any member of the Empire. The members of the Empire that has less at stake in this fight (like several Euro-land countries) would be extremely weary of this. The US is also weary of this, as are the regional powers that are hostile to Syria and Russia. So again, this type of escalation probably leads to Russian victory.
If anyone can think of any other scenarios of possible escalation then I would be extremely interested to hear them.
It seems not entirely impossible that the US have well realized this, and are trying to reign in their rabid dogs (Erdogan and House of Saud) The Israelis and the Germans (more intelligent than the previous pair) have realized that Russia means business and have passed. In fact the Germans, have more to win long-term from Russia/China/Iran, than they do from US/UK/Fra. They know this, but their leadership is too weak and too infiltrated by Imperial stooges and agents. We have to keep an eye on them.
The US also has the luxury to walk away from this. It will be a massive curtailment of their power. It will be a loss of Hegemony, and it will also be the most serious humiliation in their History. BUT, they are still more than powerful enough to take it on the chin, retreat and then return to fight another day. It is definitely not their end if they walk away now. They can always try in the near future to offer a good deal to Iran/Iraq and even Syria so as to undermine the Russian energy grip on Europe. It won’t be easy though. But expect the real possibility of alliances changing in the coming years if Russia wins this fight. Which is the most likely scenario as things currently stand.
“If anyone can think of any other scenarios of possible escalation then I would be extremely interested to hear them.”
Not sure if you covered the possibility a large-scale U.S. no-fly zone over Syria, Iraq, and the Med approaches to Syria. Perhaps strictly enforced by an “Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_and_Space_Expeditionary_Task_Force), notionally with 75 aircraft deployed plus 100 on call, backed by the 6th Fleet. Perhaps when the Russian Syrian activity ends in 3-4 (or 6) months per the Russians. Very difficult for the Russians to counter, IMHO, especially once they’ve declared victory. Doubt the current POTUS has the intestinal fortitude for it, but might be an October surprise next year if Hillary+Sanders (or whoever) seemed to need something like it to win, called appeaser by opponents..
The Russians have no intention of giving up their base in Syria.So they would never permit the US/NATO to do what you suggest.If the US/NATO is wanting WW3,that’s a good way to get it.
At the beginning of the Syrian operation against Isis and the other Islamists, several Russian spokesmen were quoted in the press saying they expected the operation to last 3 to 4 months (as I recall one said 3 to 6 months). I’ve seen no extension of that period announced since then. (Maybe you have. I might have missed it.) The most likely implication would be that after that period they’d withdraw from the bases they set up specifically for the operation, while retaining the naval facility they’ve used many years. (Perhaps they’re reluctant to be drawn into another Afghanistan quagmire.) The 3 to 6 months could stretch to 9 or 12, of course, due to the fog and friction of war, until ISIS and its cohorts were decisively defeated.
The Americans could intervene massively after that time, after the Russians had left, which they certainly have power to do. (The command structure for an air expeditionary force is already in place, with planes earmarked. The 6th Fleet is already in the Med in force.) It’s not clear to me why the Russian would initiate WW3 then if they did. Out of pique, perhaps ? What would they gain ? Perhaps the reasons are clearer to you.
World War III has reached its Preliminary stage. It can be stopped here if the Free Peoples of the planet can smash the imperialist forces and restore –
1. A unified Russian nation – unfettered and unsurrounded by the Zionist American NATO military. Including: No foreign military presence in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
2. A free and integrated Palestine, consisting of no less than 50% of its original territory, (with the land thieves being conceded the other half – those unhappy with that settlement can return to King’s Highway-Brooklyn).
3. Upon the foundation of #2, a unified Syria under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad,
a re unified Iraq, (with one territorial concession).
a rebuilt Libya
a sovereign Afghanistan
a sovereign Yemen
a reunited Sudan (all of it – North and South)
a concession from Iraq and Turkey to Birth a New Kurdistan People’s Democratic Republic.
4. Independent Puerto Rico
5. Independent Hawaii
6. Independent Alaska (with Ms. Palin as President)- Joke: just seeing if you are paying attention.
7. Free Scotland
8. Free Catalonia
9. Democratic Plebiscites to decide all other national issues.
For the Democratic Republics!
For the Glorious Russian Air Force!
And the Band played, “The World Turned Upside Down.”
2. All Zionist American military bases & Secret Agencies – out of Canada.
3. Restore the Canadian Democratic Republic!
a. begin with an Alternate Government effort. (French & English united).
4. War Crimes tribunals for American leaders & Canadian (Quisling) Collaborators.
a. Get those leaflets and signs going.
5. Canadian solidarity with Russia, Syria, Palestine, & all oppressed peoples.
I’ve run by you & others the outline of our efforts within the Belly of the Beast. The Vision is the Key. The time is only another dimension. The place to begin is – anywhere.
Doesn’t the US consider anyone who uses violence to change politics as a terrorist? Does that not also include any outside influence.. For a country that is so hell bent on anyone trying to change the politics of the country except by digital vote rigging and hanging chads they sure don’t seem to have a problem changing governments in other countries by violence or any other means they can think off.. And they call themselves free…
There was also an agreement with the USSR that they wont try to influence US politics.. How come that don’t the US influencing politics of former USSR states including Russia don’t matter..
I am just saying.. Trying to affect amerikans would make you a terrior at least…
wooof wooof..
I was born in NYC which makes me some sort of an American.
I am arguing for a Restoration of the legal & Constitutional American Republic – which was Terroristically & Violentally overthrown in the Illegal coup d’etat in Dallas on Nov. 22. 1963.
This Restoration will be quite a Revolution. But this Revolution will be Legal, Historically Justified, just as justified as is the legal & Constitutional Syrian government invite of the Russian government to help it (Syria) survive the illegal Terrorist Zionist/American/British/French/Turkish invasion.
The Terrorists are Them and They, definitely not We.
On another thread I posted about how, many posters on a MSM article were supporting Russia and Putin for the Syrian anti-terrorist bombing.And several posters here concurred,saying they noticed it on MSM articles as well.That in their countries people were having a (as one person said) love-fest for Putin over it.The West has as the saying goes “hoisted themselves on their own petard” over this.On the one hand they spent so much time,effort,and money,in building up the ISIS and other terrorist threats.They scared the “living sh..” out of their people.And now because Putin has sent the Russian Air Force to battle these terrorists they want to change all that.And say these guys aren’t “really” terrorists,they are “freedom fighters” that Russia is “murdering”. But the “public” isn’t buying it.And now Putin is more popular in the West than ever,ironic isn’t it.I figure Karma is at play here.And to add “insult to injury” for the Empire,some of the “moderate opposition” in Syria is starting to rethink their position.And possibly side with Russia:
“The Syrian opposition unexpectedly sided with Russia against the US”
A representative of the opposition has exposed the lies of Western media about Russian air strikes in Syria.
The Syrian opposition has suddenly issued a statement, denouncing the Western media lie about Russia’s air strikes in Syria. Its representative Qadri Jamil said that Russia does not bomb the “moderate opposition”, as reported by the American and European media, according to Sputnik.
“It is illogical to say that the Russians are bombing the opposition. They are bombing the radical opposition “Jabhat An-Nusra”, which some European media called “the Syrian opposition”. But it cannot be called “moderate opposition”, they are the radical Islamists who should be the object of the bombing”, – he said.
Moreover, Jamil said that the forces of the “Free Syrian army” should give Russia their positions so as not to become targets of Russian air strikes.
Also the representative of the Syrian opposition made another sensational statement. The “Free Syrian army” announced that it is not a terrorist organisation and is ready to join the fight against the militants of the “Islamic state” with government forces.
Also the “Free Syrian army” has declared its readiness to cooperate with Moscow.
Good production, but I wish they’d stop using the term “rebels” when they’re terrorists.
If you arm, train and help insert people into a country to wage war on its government and continue to support them, isn’t that a defacto declaration of war? I think that’s very much like Lavrov’s assessment of who’s a terrorist. I seem to recall in the rules of war that if you aid a belligerent in a conflict, you become allied with that belligerent–much like the Outlaw Empire is defacto ally of the Zionist entity and shares responsibility for the latter’s crimes, and acts like the attack on the USS Cole are legitimate acts of war, not terrorism. Thus, given the Outlaw Empire’s overt support for Daesh as confessed by Obama, any military asset of the Empire anywhere becomes a legit target in the Genuine War on Terror. So, by all means move your fleet within easy striking distance of the Chinese forts in the South China Sea–for that’s now a Terrorist Fleet since Daesh and the Outlaw Empire are allies.
Off topic, but these days Sheikh Imran Hosein is in Belgrade and held talks at some important institutions: SANU (Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Faculty of Law of Belgarde University. There were many interesting people attending, scholars, diplomats and of course students. I couldn’t make it, but a friend of mine, who knows him from YouTube, was at the Faculty and says Sheikh took great care in adapting the lecture to the audience, he was sensitive to cultural and religious questions the history of this land and Islam poses and it was well received. Very interesting indeed…. Even more so, when one knows that if someone from Serbian orthodox clergy were to hold an eschatology lecture in such a way at one of those institutions, all hell would brake loose, the media would be up in arms with good part of academia seeking punishment for all involved.
I think the focus is going to shift to the Kurds and Turkey as ISIL is proving more trouble than they’re worth for the US.
Wherever the oil is, basically. The cartels keep the corrupt top layer sweet, and impoverish the many. They then recruit the otherwise unemployed as mercenaries to dispatch where desired. With a sprinkling of ideology to act as psychological glue. (Ethnicity is problematic – too many variants.)
Will the US try to be the PKK guys? Depends on how weak Erdo is/gets.
Will they hope Russia becomes the YPG guys?
Is ‘Kurdistan’ viable? Or will the sectarian divides wise up and realise their best option is unity to wrest control from the cartels?
Francis Fukuyama, the one who once said that history had ended (surely an extremely stupid thing to say) has twitted the following:
“Russian intervention in Syria involves much higher risk-taking than anything done by the USSR in the ME during the Cold War.”
In spite of his admittedly silly “end of history” pronouncements, I cannot quite so easily dismiss what he says in that tweet. The intervention IS risky.
In any case, I think it is much too early in this game to justify the majority of exultant optimism we’ve seen so far around here, though I welcome it and even get carried away with it myself. But if you think about it calmly, this could easily turn out to be a long adventure for Russia.
Because as long as the US can maintain the dollar system alive, it would not be an exaggeration to claim they have inexhaustible pockets to keep supporting the production of chaos and destruction in that region.
And for a country with mainly defensive capabilities, it is one thing to be involved in a conflict right at your border, and quite a different thing to be 1000 km away and also dependent on a country so notoriously untrustworthy as Turkey to let your ships through if things get too hot.
I certainly hope this can be over soon with ISIS flushed out of Syria and some badly needed return to some measure of calm in that volatile region that the Empire of Chaos just loves to set on fire. But for now there is just no telling where this is going and how it is going to end, or how soon. We know nothing about any of that, and this needs to be kept in mind.
There is great risk in non-action when action is called for.
Mitigation of “risk” is early on in war planning.
No one considers “risk management” if they need to win. They get what they need for the war, put their men into action and fight to win the war.
People who think about risk, like the US Military career generals who fear a bad mark on their career if they “risk” something, cover their ass coming and going and wind up with unwinnable wars and geopolitical chaos and disasters.
Show me a leader who measures risk and I’ll be looking at a loser or someone who does something half-baked or someone who doesn’t do what needs to be done.
Russia is in Syria because it had to save Assad, it had to save its client, it had to save the port and it was a perfect time to push aside the West and fight ISIS, which it has to defeat.
There is no component of risk in any of those imperatives.
He is probably right.But it is a risk taken because of the West’s actions in the Middle East,that are worse than anything done in the time of the Soviet Union.Had they tried that then…but no,they would never have tried the things they’ve done today,back then.The Soviets would never have permitted it.Does anyone think that if the USSR wasn’t about to collapse they would ever have permitted the Gulf War to take place.Or that the US would even have tried it.Does anyone think that the Soviets would have permitted Bush to invade Afghanistan and then Iraq.Or let NATO destroy Libya.I can assure you they never would have permitted it.And the West would never even have tried it.And we can go back one.Yugoslavia would never have been destroyed.The Soviets would have said to the West,”hands off”.If the West had been stupid enough to even think of that back then.There was a “pecking order” in those days.And both the West and the East “knew” what they “could do”,and what they,”couldn’t do”.And most times never even thought to try it.
I dont know what’s in the TPP deal that makes those other countries sign up for it, probably
a case of pennies wise pounds foolish kind of deal for them.
The politicians that sign up for it will be receiving their pounds. Appointed as high priced “consultants” ect to the corporations that benefit from the TPP when they leave office.
General Allen (soon-to-be-retired) of the notorious Allen-Juppe plan (documented by Thierry Meyassan on Voltairenet) is en route for Erbil (North Iraq ”Kurdistan) :
The PKK is mentioned as a possible suspect. But they are a Marxist, pro-labour militant movement. The chances of them choosing a trades-union organized protest to ‘make a point’ don’t seem high to me.
Wonder what ‘steps’ General Allen – arriving in ‘Kurdistan’ on Friday – will say should be taken?
off topic, but since the Great Satan no longer has any fun screwing around Syria, they have decided to change their target. They probably need something to patch their bruised ego, after a bad beating by Putin….
A US defense official told Reuters the United States was mulling sending ships within the next two weeks to waters inside the 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as territory around islands it has built in the Spratly chain.
Story coming out that top Iranian officials and IRGC leaders were abducted during the Haj stampede, which itself was a joint black op by the Mossad and Saudis, for the express purpose of grabbing them. If so, it certainly explains the threats made by the Iranians to the Saudis about missing and injured pilgrims.
ABC News in their article, “US Officials Ask How ISIS Got So Many Toyota Trucks,” reports:
US counter-terror officials have asked Toyota, the world’s second largest auto maker, to help them determine how ISIS has managed to acquire the large number of Toyota pick-up trucks and SUVs seen prominently in the terror group’s propaganda videos in Iraq, Syria and Libya, ABC News has learned.
Toyota says it does not know how ISIS obtained the vehicles and is “supporting” the inquiry led by the Terror Financing unit of the Treasury Department — part of a broad US effort to prevent Western-made goods from ending up in the hands of the terror group.
The report went on to cite Iraqi Ambassador to the US, Lukman Faily:
‘This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,’ Faily said. ‘How could these brand new trucks… these four wheel drives, hundreds of them — where are they coming from?’
Mystery Solved
Just last year it was reported that the US State Department had been sending in fleets of specifically Toyota-brand trucks into Syria to whom they claimed was the “Free Syrian Army.”
US foundation-funded Public Radio International (PRI) reported in a 2014 article titled, “This one Toyota pickup truck is at the top of the shopping list for the Free Syrian Army — and the Taliban,” that:
Recently, when the US State Department resumed sending non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels, the delivery list included 43 Toyota trucks.
Hiluxes were on the Free Syrian Army’s wish list. Oubai Shahbander, a Washington-based advisor to the Syrian National Coalition, is a fan of the truck.
“Specific equipment like the Toyota Hiluxes are what we refer to as force enablers for the moderate opposition forces on the ground,” he adds. Shahbander says the US-supplied pickups will be delivering troops and supplies into battle. Some of the fleet will even become battlefield weapons.
“Shahbander says the US-supplied pickups will be delivering troops and supplies into battle. Some of the fleet will even become battlefield weapons.”
And how right he was.The trucks have done just as he thought.Only they are doing that for their “current” ISIS owners.I’m thinking ISIS needs to send the US government and Mr Shahbander a couple of “thank you” notes for the gifts.
A P.S. to my other comment.
I wonder if those trucks have a locator device on them.Many/most new vehicles do have something like that I believe.In which case if they do,shouldn’t their locations be able to be accessed?
The way this video is set up is brilliant. All of us with no media to tell us anything but Russian Media, we need this kind of juxtaposition of psuedofact and refutation of it. Cooler than cool! Makes tons more like this please!
Storm Clouds Gathering – those people make a tight video. Good job. Not new analysis, but excellent compilation of evidence. The video is about 5 minutes and focuses on what kind of terrorists are being targeted in Syria vis a vis the msm spin.
If I am not mistaken, that SCG dude does those videos all by himself with the help of his wife.
His youtube channel became extremely popular (he does a hell of a job) and he was actually making some good enough money out of it in order to support his family.
At which point, youtube (hello NSA) started interfering with his work and started censoring and not allowing him to “monetize” his clips anymore. I think he is struggling now.
He explains what is going on in this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqkIr-rUNpg
Thanks for that info.
Heard of him but no time to follow/listen.
Isn’t there a “ru-tube” out there they could go to, just keep it in english?
He sounds like X22 especially–I believe he’s said he’s mid-40’s & supporting a few kids.
I have noted his daily diary he’s shrunk to 25-30 min from 45-50 better for those with not a lot of time.
There’s a dude DAHBOO7 also on youtube many years–he’s released some shocking stuff; not sure how they’re still allowed an active channel!
@ Stavros H,
Q; At which point, youtube (hello NSA) started interfering with his work and started censoring and not allowing him to “monetize” his clips anymore.
R; Well, the www is one big, amoral cesspool and about 1 thing only; $$$$$
So, whatever one thinks or has to say about The Saker, his ‘not in your face about money every step of the way’ is laudable.
Whenever possible, vote with your wallets [occasionally].
Amusing, isn’t it…
INTERFAX, 9 October 2015, 14:57, http://www.interfax.ru/world/472385 :
The US administration has closed the program of training Syrian rebels
Program worth 500 million dollars did not justify the hopes of the American authorities
“… Moscow, 9 October, INTERFAX.RU – the Administration of U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Friday that the U.S. program for training and arming Syrian opposition fighters at a cost of $500 million was being closed. As reported, the program did not meet expectations of the American authorities.
According to a senior Pentagon official, the U.S. no longer intends to recruit for training of what are often called “moderate” rebels in Syria to fight the militants of the terrorist group “Islamic State” (IS, which is banned in Russia). The assumption was that trained Syrian rebels would also successfully fight against government forces of Bashar Assad. The Pentagon is closing the training centers in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Instead, it is planned to open in Turkey a small training center for the training of leaders of opposition groups, “capable of calling air strikes by the U.S. Air Force”.
Initially the US had planned to train up to 15 thousand fighters of the Syrian opposition.
At the same time, the AP agency writes that the Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Friday, that the United States within a few hours will announce substantial changes of its program in Syria.
Carter explained that Washington now wishes to focus on supporting the existing military formations in Syria, for example, the Kurdish militias. The U.S. secretary of defense did not give any additional details. …”
There was a comment from a Russian about how funding, arming and training people to kill police and soldiers is not really moderate opposition.. In anyone’s vocabulary it is called state terrorism. Imagine any one else country doing it to nato humanitarian bombers.. There was also some guy talking about the poor Syrians who assad is slaughtering.. after he just bombed a wedding party in Yemen killing over 150 people.
@ Johan,
Q; Instead, it is planned to open in Turkey a small training center for the training of leaders of opposition groups, “capable of calling air strikes by the U.S. Air Force”.
R; How are they going to do that when the perps themselves are bombed on the ground and there’s a Russia/Syria exclusive [no] fly zone?
Here’s some collected footage of Russia attack helicopters and Jihadist minions firing at them in Syria.
These clowns obviously don’t know JS about Russian attack choppers.
Nevertheless, the Russians should bring out an armada of [non] fixed wing aviation and exterminate anything that shoots at them.
According to Boris Zilberman [a Russia expert and researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies – where’s that barf bag? Hurry, I’m going to be violently ill!]. “As Russia continues to conduct close air support for the ground forces, they increase the risks to their own forces. It is only a matter of time before we see videos on YouTube of Russian Mi-24 Hind helicopters being shot down.” (Business Insider)
Note that Zilberman knows exactly which kind of helicopter will be ‘shot’ down. I’ve sent him an email asking him to give me the numbers for next week’s powerball money fest.
Very good and informative video. Thanks for sharing it.
The so-called “WWIII” is a myth. It will never happen. During 50-year of the so-called “Cold War”, the US never attacked Soviet Russia or vise versa. Both were content with their pieces of world-pie.
1. Israel is the main cause of wars and conflicts in the region. Putin has always maintained “brotherly” relations with the Zionist Jewish leaders, both in Israel and in Russia. Some Russian writers have even claimed that Putin has Jewish family roots.
2. The war against Assad regime, a close ally of the US, France and other western nations, was planned after Assad joined the “Axis of Resistance” (Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas) against the Zionist entity a decade ago.
3. Russia has diplomatic and trade relations with all the players in the war against Syrian people, such as, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Israel, US, Britain, France, Canada, etc.
Therefore, until the “Tumor” is not removed , there will be never peace in the Middle East – even after the so-called “US-Iran” nuclear agreement because Israel wants a “shattered” Muslim world around it – And Russia along with the rest of “Evildoers” are part of the anti-Islam axis. Don’t forget, Russia has annexed several of Muslim lands and Muslims are being killed on daily basis under the guise of “War on Terror”.
http://rehmat1.com/2015/10/07/a-new-crusade-against-muslims/
@Rehmat …”Putin has always maintained “brotherly” relations with the Zionist Jewish leaders, both in Israel and in Russia.”
This article will tell you why Putin is talking to everyone.
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/syrian-war-and-russias-diplomatic-play/ri10358
Plus, Russians always keep their enemies close ie ‘brotherly relations’.
@Rehmat …”Some Russian writers have even claimed that Putin has Jewish family roots.’
Nice try at using the old AZ trick ‘some Russian writers’ … care to so which writers?
“Russians always keep their enemies close ie ‘brotherly relations’.”
And make a little money in trade with such enemies, on the side?
Russia’s foreign policy is clearly superior to America’s, but I don’t see that Putin has any long term goals to do anything about Israel, aside from checking its unlimited growth and free hand in the middle east (which is something at least). His rhetoric re: Israel doesn’t sound that different than a moderate US politician’s. Putin’s foreign policy seems very close to Ron Paul’s stated foreign policy: an emphasis on sovereignty and mutually beneficial “friendly” relations. Again, this is much better than current US foreign policy, but it’s not going to tackle Zionism at the core.
Exactly Rehmat – a multipolar world makes not one jot difference.
RE: about the dissolution of the social cohesion of European societies. This man has an important perspective and it is controversial in some aspects but needs to be seen and heart:
/wwiii-syria-russia-iran-the-new-equation/
Could someone help me decipher this disinformation from 2012: The “Obama administration” is worried that weapons shipped from Qatar end up with the wrong terrorist in Syria and Libya. What exactly is this “Obama administration”? Now we hear that President Obama or “the White House” has been in conflict with the State Department on a number of issues (Ukraine, Syria). Is it correct to assume that the “Obama administration” excludes, not only the CIA but also the Clinton State Department?
U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands. New York Times, December 5, 2012
The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.
No evidence has emerged linking the weapons provided by the Qataris during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to the attack that killed four Americans at the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in September.
But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government.
The experience in Libya has taken on new urgency as the administration considers whether to play a direct role in arming rebels in Syria, where weapons are flowing in from Qatar and other countries.
The Obama administration did not initially raise objections when Qatar began shipping arms to opposition groups in Syria, even if it did not offer encouragement, according to current and former administration officials. But they said the United States has growing concerns that, just as in Libya, the Qataris are equipping some of the wrong militants.
The United States, which had only small numbers of C.I.A. officers in Libya during the tumult of the rebellion, provided little oversight of the arms shipments. Within weeks of endorsing Qatar’s plan to send weapons there in spring 2011, the White House began receiving reports that they were going to Islamic militant groups. They were “more antidemocratic, more hard-line, closer to an extreme version of Islam” than the main rebel alliance in Libya, said a former Defense Department official.
In other news: A Reuters article reveals a critical piece of information that has escaped even the most critical observers of the US-led war of destabilization against the Muslim world.
We knew before that rebel groups in Syria were created and armed by the CIA and trained at bases in Jordan and Turkey. The CIA also operated the commanded and control centers is these two counties.
We also knew that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were instrumental in destroying Libya. Terror armies led and fed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia ravaged the country, often ending up up fighting each other. Later these same Qatar and Saudi led operations moved to Syria.
It has so far been assumed that Qatar and Saudi Arabia acted out of their own national interests; that these two countries and their demented leaders were behind the wave of terror. The central claim was that these two operations were somehow separate from the CIA-run operations. It now seems that what was seen as Saudi or Qatari aggression may in fact have been a CIA operation.
No, your assumption’s incorrect. “Obama administration” would include the entire executive branch of the Outlaw Empire’s national government, which includes everything that isn’t Congress or Supreme Court.
Theoretically speaking, yes. Practically speaking, things are much more fun.
The Nulands do their own thing. The Pentagon has different factions. The CIA is a hydra with how many heads? GoldmanSachs calls Tel Aviv calls the Saudis calls Qatar to announce this and that. Lockheed Martin runs own weapon-tests with hired mercenaries. Blackwater is involved on more fronts than they can remember. The FBI has own enhanced renditions program. Mossad agents pose as CIA weapons instructor. And so on. The fun has no end.
Commenters can visit the NYT to find the article themselves. Mod TR
The link to the New York Times article from 2012. nytimes/2012/12/06/
Extremely,extremely,good presentation of the facts.That cuts through the curtain of BS surrounding the US/NATO/West’s (whatever label you want to put on it) position on Syria.
Another great explanation (especially if you are from the US) was this article.US citizens should all read it:
http://www.phillip-butler.com/let-mortal-tongues-awake/
How kind to mention my humble ideas on the world chaos we see foaming. As Saker suggest, time for a bit of reformulation. Peace brothers and sisters.
Phil Butler
We hear a lot about Syria in the news (both from our side and the Empire’s stooges).But I think there are some points not talked about enough (if they are at all).Those that love or those that hate Putin almost always agree on one thing,Putin isn’t stupidThe Empire would say he’s devilish,cunning,plotting,etc,etc.And we would say,he’s clever,thoughtful,planning,etc,etc.
So now the question is why did this clever or “cunning” leader commit to going into Syria? He has committed his future and legacy to that move.Failure is not an opinion if he is to survive as Russia’s President. I don’t see him expecting to fail and telling the Russian people “sorry guys,I tried but the Empire was just too strong for us.So I’m resigning now,and leaving.And oh,BTW Xi,your own your own now buddy.Good luck dealing with the US.”
He expects to win.And is willing to follow his strategy (whatever it is) to victory.I think he has thought that it might lead to war.But believes it won’t.But has calculated that if it did,Russia would win that war.He see’s that if he allowed the West to destroy Syria it would allow them to totally dominate the MENA.That they would quickly turn on Iran,and shut Russia completely out of the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans.That they would be emboldened even more on Ukraine.And able to sow death and destruction in Central Asia and unrest among Muslims in Russia herself.So it is basically a matter of life or death for Russia that he win.
What is his plan? I have no idea,other than to say,”win”.Some contours of it are of course somewhat clear.Destroy the terrorists in Syria.And support a victory for the Syrian government.But also to arrange a political settlement that will stop the continued unrest there.All parts extremely complicated and difficult to accomplish.But also all vital for him to “win”.The second clear part (I believe),is to show the World (especially Russia’s friends and enemies) Russia’s military strength.To let her friends see Russia can protect them if needed (and generate arms sales).And let her enemies see clearly why it is a horrible idea for them to attack Russia.Those missiles that hit terrorists in Syria could hit NATO targets in Poland,the Baltic States,and Romania (as well as further West) with only a reset of the targeting dials.
We are in for a “bumpy road” over the next year.Because as much as Putin “must” win.The Empire and her stooges don’t want to lose.They can do what Putin can’t.They can “spin” their loss to their populations and survive.Because unlike their desire for Russia,Putin doesn’t want to actually destroy them.So the loss isn’t as horrifying for them.But nonetheless,they will try every dirty trick in their playbook to avoid a loss.
Certainly he must feel he can win this. And looking at the typical US playbook I don’t really see how they can stop him. If it had been geopolitically workable to do a direct, overt US intervention despite a Security Council veto they would have just invaded Syria years ago. Their indirect tactics won’t work on Russia and in any case have mostly already been tried so there’s little leverage left. Iran is hard to pressure for similar reasons, and especially on this issue because Iran’s list of regional allies is thin and they can’t afford to lose this one.
There is also no way they’re going to get the member states of the EU to get behind increasing sanctions on Russia for the crime of being the people to finally do something that might slow the tide of refugees. Slavish many of the EU member states’ administrations may be, but politics remains the art of the possible. Any European government that proposes right now to help the terrorists create more mayhem in Syria will be in serious trouble.
But Putin might have been forced in even if his hand were somewhat weaker than it is. If ISIS and al-Nusra finished off the Syrian government, the chaos of that failed state would destabilize Lebanon as well; with further American and Israeli help, very likely Hezbollah would be taken down and then both Lebanon and Syria would be new Libyas: Ungoverned free-fire zones, full of militias selectively bought off as necessary in zones key for US profit-making. The entire Middle East would be an American desert, with Iran standing alone for a little while–but very likely the streak of pragmatism in the Iranian leadership leading them to bow to the US fairly soon. The wild card would be the growing cancer of ISIS, but the major point for Putin would be, let Assad fall and very soon Russia and everyone else not a US stooge is completely shut out of the Middle East (leaving China very vulnerable to manipulation of their energy supply). In short, I’m saying Putin too was desperate–he had to do something.
What’s to his credit is that, faced with this necessity, he seems to have planned things out carefully and taken a strong but measured approach–not too weak to get the job done, not a panicked over-reaction leaving a political flank open, and well enough organized to be able to run the operation with speed and keep the initiative, with a good congruence between political objectives, military objectives, and tactics. So often the Americans seem to think that because they have an expensive military all they need to do is sort of throw it in the general direction of a situation and that will get them the results they want; it’s almost at the level of magical thinking where wishing makes it so. Often they haven’t even really thought through just what results they want, let alone worked carefully on how to achieve them.
Very true.
Both your analysis and Uncle Bob’s are correct, so it just led me to this conclusion: life and history is so strange!
Remember long ago when the USA was worried about the “spread of communism” and “domino theory”, so much so that they go fight a war that should never be fought – the Vietnam war, + bombing Cambodia etc. Now that was (imo anyway) a totally stupid mistake, an unnecessary involvement.
Move forward now, incredibly, it’s the USA+NATO-stan that started up this mess, and in this case, the “domino theory” is REAL!. If Syria were to fall, right after Iraq, Libya etc, it’s clear more will be next, it’ll be never ending regime change for one nation or another that some how is “not democratic”, “tyrannical”, and who knows what other labels, all determined by the US.
Chomsky would say that the domino theory was essentially correct back then too–that the essential thing was to crush “the danger of a good example”, because if people were allowed to make their own political choices it became very likely they might choose not to be dominated by foreign corporations, whether Exxon or United Fruit. This meant, where possible getting rid of governments and politics that might govern for the local people (as they successfully did in Indonesia where they backed Suharto in murdering about a million Communists, maybe-Communists, people-in-the-same-village-as-Communists and so on), but where that was not possible making sure that any country that insisted on going its own way was made into a dreadful example of what happens to you if you’re disobedient–which is what they ended up doing to Vietnam. They lost in Vietnam, but if you were a nearby country would you have wanted to be next?
What’s to his credit is that, faced with this necessity, he seems to have planned things out carefully and taken a strong but measured approach–not too weak to get the job done, not a panicked over-reaction leaving a political flank open, and well enough organized to be able to run the operation with speed and keep the initiative, with a good congruence between political objectives, military objectives, and tactics. So often the Americans seem to think that because they have an expensive military all they need to do is sort of throw it in the general direction of a situation and that will get them the results they want; it’s almost at the level of magical thinking where wishing makes it so. Often they haven’t even really thought through just what results they want, let alone worked carefully on how to achieve them.
Yes, you’re right. I do believe Putin has read Sun Tzu & Chanakya Niti. Both describe how to get into the mindset of your enemy and out maneuver them.
Russia must indeed win in Syria, for all the reasons you mentioned, plus to prevent the prospect of pipelines from the Gulf states to the EU. This is imperative for the Russo-Chinese approach of expelling the US Empire from Eurasia, or at least diminishing its influence.
I am not sure that Russia would be totally doomed if Assad fell, but it would definitely put all of Russia/China and Iran into a much tighter spot.
For China, Iran is a strategic priority. They want the future Iranian pipelines to be diverted towards the East, not the West. So this is yet another interest that Russia and China have in common.
Now, why does Putin think he can win in the ME. Let’s not forget that the ME is dominated by the mighty Central Command of the US Army, and is infested with such regional enemies as Turkey, Israel, KSA, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan etc etc etc. So, the Russians have a committed an extremely daring move. Why do they think they can win? Well, we must examine all the different possibilities for escalation available to the Empire of Filth, and what the Russian response could be. So, in my amateur way, I will attempt to do exactly that.
a) EoF (Empire of Filth) supplies the cursed Jihadis with advanced and heavy weaponry.
What does Russia do?
Well, I think the answer is readily obvious. Supply the Houthis, Hezbollah and PKK (maybe other Kurds as well) with similarly advanced weapons. How would the Turks, Jews and Saudis like that shit? Russia (with the financial backing of PRC) along with the SAA, Iran and Shiites from Iraq would still be able to win in Syria even if it meant higher cost in blood and treasure. But how would the Turks, Zionists and Saudis fare? I think much worse than the Russians. The US must also consider the viability of its Empire. If the entire ME goes up in flames, the US (along with UK and France) would be the major losers (let alone the local Imperial stooges) Russia would be in a RELATIVELY STRONGER position if the ME went up in smoke.
b) What if the US used some of its fancier weaponry against the Russian Force in Syria?
I think Russia is clearly demonstrating that they can respond to such kind of escalation against any member of the Empire. The members of the Empire that has less at stake in this fight (like several Euro-land countries) would be extremely weary of this. The US is also weary of this, as are the regional powers that are hostile to Syria and Russia. So again, this type of escalation probably leads to Russian victory.
If anyone can think of any other scenarios of possible escalation then I would be extremely interested to hear them.
It seems not entirely impossible that the US have well realized this, and are trying to reign in their rabid dogs (Erdogan and House of Saud) The Israelis and the Germans (more intelligent than the previous pair) have realized that Russia means business and have passed. In fact the Germans, have more to win long-term from Russia/China/Iran, than they do from US/UK/Fra. They know this, but their leadership is too weak and too infiltrated by Imperial stooges and agents. We have to keep an eye on them.
The US also has the luxury to walk away from this. It will be a massive curtailment of their power. It will be a loss of Hegemony, and it will also be the most serious humiliation in their History. BUT, they are still more than powerful enough to take it on the chin, retreat and then return to fight another day. It is definitely not their end if they walk away now. They can always try in the near future to offer a good deal to Iran/Iraq and even Syria so as to undermine the Russian energy grip on Europe. It won’t be easy though. But expect the real possibility of alliances changing in the coming years if Russia wins this fight. Which is the most likely scenario as things currently stand.
“If anyone can think of any other scenarios of possible escalation then I would be extremely interested to hear them.”
Not sure if you covered the possibility a large-scale U.S. no-fly zone over Syria, Iraq, and the Med approaches to Syria. Perhaps strictly enforced by an “Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_and_Space_Expeditionary_Task_Force), notionally with 75 aircraft deployed plus 100 on call, backed by the 6th Fleet. Perhaps when the Russian Syrian activity ends in 3-4 (or 6) months per the Russians. Very difficult for the Russians to counter, IMHO, especially once they’ve declared victory. Doubt the current POTUS has the intestinal fortitude for it, but might be an October surprise next year if Hillary+Sanders (or whoever) seemed to need something like it to win, called appeaser by opponents..
The Russians have no intention of giving up their base in Syria.So they would never permit the US/NATO to do what you suggest.If the US/NATO is wanting WW3,that’s a good way to get it.
At the beginning of the Syrian operation against Isis and the other Islamists, several Russian spokesmen were quoted in the press saying they expected the operation to last 3 to 4 months (as I recall one said 3 to 6 months). I’ve seen no extension of that period announced since then. (Maybe you have. I might have missed it.) The most likely implication would be that after that period they’d withdraw from the bases they set up specifically for the operation, while retaining the naval facility they’ve used many years. (Perhaps they’re reluctant to be drawn into another Afghanistan quagmire.) The 3 to 6 months could stretch to 9 or 12, of course, due to the fog and friction of war, until ISIS and its cohorts were decisively defeated.
The Americans could intervene massively after that time, after the Russians had left, which they certainly have power to do. (The command structure for an air expeditionary force is already in place, with planes earmarked. The 6th Fleet is already in the Med in force.) It’s not clear to me why the Russian would initiate WW3 then if they did. Out of pique, perhaps ? What would they gain ? Perhaps the reasons are clearer to you.
This video “WWIII… is very nicely done.
World War III has reached its Preliminary stage. It can be stopped here if the Free Peoples of the planet can smash the imperialist forces and restore –
1. A unified Russian nation – unfettered and unsurrounded by the Zionist American NATO military. Including: No foreign military presence in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
2. A free and integrated Palestine, consisting of no less than 50% of its original territory, (with the land thieves being conceded the other half – those unhappy with that settlement can return to King’s Highway-Brooklyn).
3. Upon the foundation of #2, a unified Syria under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad,
a re unified Iraq, (with one territorial concession).
a rebuilt Libya
a sovereign Afghanistan
a sovereign Yemen
a reunited Sudan (all of it – North and South)
a concession from Iraq and Turkey to Birth a New Kurdistan People’s Democratic Republic.
4. Independent Puerto Rico
5. Independent Hawaii
6. Independent Alaska (with Ms. Palin as President)- Joke: just seeing if you are paying attention.
7. Free Scotland
8. Free Catalonia
9. Democratic Plebiscites to decide all other national issues.
For the Democratic Republics!
For the Glorious Russian Air Force!
And the Band played, “The World Turned Upside Down.”
IMAGINE
agreed…but how ?
Ann,
I recall you are Canadian???
The VISION:
1. Independence for Canada. Sovereignty.
2. All Zionist American military bases & Secret Agencies – out of Canada.
3. Restore the Canadian Democratic Republic!
a. begin with an Alternate Government effort. (French & English united).
4. War Crimes tribunals for American leaders & Canadian (Quisling) Collaborators.
a. Get those leaflets and signs going.
5. Canadian solidarity with Russia, Syria, Palestine, & all oppressed peoples.
I’ve run by you & others the outline of our efforts within the Belly of the Beast. The Vision is the Key. The time is only another dimension. The place to begin is – anywhere.
Emotion trumps defeatism.
That is why I am an anarchist.
Love is the answer!
For the Democratic Republics!
IMAGINE
Doesn’t the US consider anyone who uses violence to change politics as a terrorist? Does that not also include any outside influence.. For a country that is so hell bent on anyone trying to change the politics of the country except by digital vote rigging and hanging chads they sure don’t seem to have a problem changing governments in other countries by violence or any other means they can think off.. And they call themselves free…
There was also an agreement with the USSR that they wont try to influence US politics.. How come that don’t the US influencing politics of former USSR states including Russia don’t matter..
I am just saying.. Trying to affect amerikans would make you a terrior at least…
wooof wooof..
I was born in NYC which makes me some sort of an American.
I am arguing for a Restoration of the legal & Constitutional American Republic – which was Terroristically & Violentally overthrown in the Illegal coup d’etat in Dallas on Nov. 22. 1963.
This Restoration will be quite a Revolution. But this Revolution will be Legal, Historically Justified, just as justified as is the legal & Constitutional Syrian government invite of the Russian government to help it (Syria) survive the illegal Terrorist Zionist/American/British/French/Turkish invasion.
The Terrorists are Them and They, definitely not We.
For the Democratic Republics!
IMAGINE
On another thread I posted about how, many posters on a MSM article were supporting Russia and Putin for the Syrian anti-terrorist bombing.And several posters here concurred,saying they noticed it on MSM articles as well.That in their countries people were having a (as one person said) love-fest for Putin over it.The West has as the saying goes “hoisted themselves on their own petard” over this.On the one hand they spent so much time,effort,and money,in building up the ISIS and other terrorist threats.They scared the “living sh..” out of their people.And now because Putin has sent the Russian Air Force to battle these terrorists they want to change all that.And say these guys aren’t “really” terrorists,they are “freedom fighters” that Russia is “murdering”. But the “public” isn’t buying it.And now Putin is more popular in the West than ever,ironic isn’t it.I figure Karma is at play here.And to add “insult to injury” for the Empire,some of the “moderate opposition” in Syria is starting to rethink their position.And possibly side with Russia:
“The Syrian opposition unexpectedly sided with Russia against the US”
A representative of the opposition has exposed the lies of Western media about Russian air strikes in Syria.
The Syrian opposition has suddenly issued a statement, denouncing the Western media lie about Russia’s air strikes in Syria. Its representative Qadri Jamil said that Russia does not bomb the “moderate opposition”, as reported by the American and European media, according to Sputnik.
“It is illogical to say that the Russians are bombing the opposition. They are bombing the radical opposition “Jabhat An-Nusra”, which some European media called “the Syrian opposition”. But it cannot be called “moderate opposition”, they are the radical Islamists who should be the object of the bombing”, – he said.
Moreover, Jamil said that the forces of the “Free Syrian army” should give Russia their positions so as not to become targets of Russian air strikes.
Also the representative of the Syrian opposition made another sensational statement. The “Free Syrian army” announced that it is not a terrorist organisation and is ready to join the fight against the militants of the “Islamic state” with government forces.
Also the “Free Syrian army” has declared its readiness to cooperate with Moscow.
http://fortruss.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-syrian-opposition-unexpectedly.html
I read that as “don’t bomb us, we’ll cooperate!”
A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) killed by terrorist groups in Syria:
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/09/432643/Iranian-commander-Syria-Major-General-Hossein-Hamedani
Good production, but I wish they’d stop using the term “rebels” when they’re terrorists.
If you arm, train and help insert people into a country to wage war on its government and continue to support them, isn’t that a defacto declaration of war? I think that’s very much like Lavrov’s assessment of who’s a terrorist. I seem to recall in the rules of war that if you aid a belligerent in a conflict, you become allied with that belligerent–much like the Outlaw Empire is defacto ally of the Zionist entity and shares responsibility for the latter’s crimes, and acts like the attack on the USS Cole are legitimate acts of war, not terrorism. Thus, given the Outlaw Empire’s overt support for Daesh as confessed by Obama, any military asset of the Empire anywhere becomes a legit target in the Genuine War on Terror. So, by all means move your fleet within easy striking distance of the Chinese forts in the South China Sea–for that’s now a Terrorist Fleet since Daesh and the Outlaw Empire are allies.
Off topic, but these days Sheikh Imran Hosein is in Belgrade and held talks at some important institutions: SANU (Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Faculty of Law of Belgarde University. There were many interesting people attending, scholars, diplomats and of course students. I couldn’t make it, but a friend of mine, who knows him from YouTube, was at the Faculty and says Sheikh took great care in adapting the lecture to the audience, he was sensitive to cultural and religious questions the history of this land and Islam poses and it was well received. Very interesting indeed…. Even more so, when one knows that if someone from Serbian orthodox clergy were to hold an eschatology lecture in such a way at one of those institutions, all hell would brake loose, the media would be up in arms with good part of academia seeking punishment for all involved.
@Petri K
Fars News Agency reported the destruction of at least two ISIL command centres, storage and ammunition depots by Russian air strikes.
Then Ash Carter announced Russia would suffer casualties as a result of the Syrian intervention.
I drew my own conclusions as to who was really operating those centres then.
No need for Reuters (from which you should sup with a long – very long – spoon anyway.)
Watch out for renewed attempts to appropriate the Kurds – Iraqi and Turkish – for US ends. (The Syrian Kurds appear to be aligning with Assad.)
And the is 800million missing oil money is currently a big protest issue in ‘Kurdistan.’
Petri Kohn knows the real deal..when I first came to Saker’s he was a usual commenter….
OT.
Halyna Mokrushina has an excellent piece up on Ukraine at CounterPunch: On Ukraine’s ‘Incorrect’ Past.
Uncle Bob,
Great overview as always.
I think the focus is going to shift to the Kurds and Turkey as ISIL is proving more trouble than they’re worth for the US.
Wherever the oil is, basically. The cartels keep the corrupt top layer sweet, and impoverish the many. They then recruit the otherwise unemployed as mercenaries to dispatch where desired. With a sprinkling of ideology to act as psychological glue. (Ethnicity is problematic – too many variants.)
Will the US try to be the PKK guys? Depends on how weak Erdo is/gets.
Will they hope Russia becomes the YPG guys?
Is ‘Kurdistan’ viable? Or will the sectarian divides wise up and realise their best option is unity to wrest control from the cartels?
I will be following Kurd sites the next while.
Those cruise missiles have concentrated their minds wonderfully.
Now they’re desperate to be ‘healthy’ opposition.
My.
What a difference a week makes.
Francis Fukuyama, the one who once said that history had ended (surely an extremely stupid thing to say) has twitted the following:
“Russian intervention in Syria involves much higher risk-taking than anything done by the USSR in the ME during the Cold War.”
In spite of his admittedly silly “end of history” pronouncements, I cannot quite so easily dismiss what he says in that tweet. The intervention IS risky.
In any case, I think it is much too early in this game to justify the majority of exultant optimism we’ve seen so far around here, though I welcome it and even get carried away with it myself. But if you think about it calmly, this could easily turn out to be a long adventure for Russia.
Because as long as the US can maintain the dollar system alive, it would not be an exaggeration to claim they have inexhaustible pockets to keep supporting the production of chaos and destruction in that region.
And for a country with mainly defensive capabilities, it is one thing to be involved in a conflict right at your border, and quite a different thing to be 1000 km away and also dependent on a country so notoriously untrustworthy as Turkey to let your ships through if things get too hot.
I certainly hope this can be over soon with ISIS flushed out of Syria and some badly needed return to some measure of calm in that volatile region that the Empire of Chaos just loves to set on fire. But for now there is just no telling where this is going and how it is going to end, or how soon. We know nothing about any of that, and this needs to be kept in mind.
I said the other day that I was exceedingly happy that scum like Zbig are still alive to witness this dramatic turnaround of World History.
Well, I am also happy that the idiot Francis Fukuyama is also still alive and kicking.
:)
There is no risk in doing what you must do.
There is great risk in non-action when action is called for.
Mitigation of “risk” is early on in war planning.
No one considers “risk management” if they need to win. They get what they need for the war, put their men into action and fight to win the war.
People who think about risk, like the US Military career generals who fear a bad mark on their career if they “risk” something, cover their ass coming and going and wind up with unwinnable wars and geopolitical chaos and disasters.
Show me a leader who measures risk and I’ll be looking at a loser or someone who does something half-baked or someone who doesn’t do what needs to be done.
Russia is in Syria because it had to save Assad, it had to save its client, it had to save the port and it was a perfect time to push aside the West and fight ISIS, which it has to defeat.
There is no component of risk in any of those imperatives.
He is probably right.But it is a risk taken because of the West’s actions in the Middle East,that are worse than anything done in the time of the Soviet Union.Had they tried that then…but no,they would never have tried the things they’ve done today,back then.The Soviets would never have permitted it.Does anyone think that if the USSR wasn’t about to collapse they would ever have permitted the Gulf War to take place.Or that the US would even have tried it.Does anyone think that the Soviets would have permitted Bush to invade Afghanistan and then Iraq.Or let NATO destroy Libya.I can assure you they never would have permitted it.And the West would never even have tried it.And we can go back one.Yugoslavia would never have been destroyed.The Soviets would have said to the West,”hands off”.If the West had been stupid enough to even think of that back then.There was a “pecking order” in those days.And both the West and the East “knew” what they “could do”,and what they,”couldn’t do”.And most times never even thought to try it.
I dont know what’s in the TPP deal that makes those other countries sign up for it, probably
a case of pennies wise pounds foolish kind of deal for them.
https://www.rt.com/usa/318146-tpp-wikileaks-intellectual-property/
The politicians that sign up for it will be receiving their pounds. Appointed as high priced “consultants” ect to the corporations that benefit from the TPP when they leave office.
And – bingo!!
General Allen (soon-to-be-retired) of the notorious Allen-Juppe plan (documented by Thierry Meyassan on Voltairenet) is en route for Erbil (North Iraq ”Kurdistan) :
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/091020151
Aha.
This cannot be good at all.
AT ALL!!!
I suspect the US fallback position is to try and keep hold of Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria. Back an independence movement or something similar.
@Anonymous Oct 10 12:31
You suspect right.
http://ekurd.net/us-may-be-ready-create-kurdistan-2015-10-05
RT headline news: terror attack in Ankara
https://www.rt.com/news/318185-ankara-road-junction-blast/
The PKK is mentioned as a possible suspect. But they are a Marxist, pro-labour militant movement. The chances of them choosing a trades-union organized protest to ‘make a point’ don’t seem high to me.
Wonder what ‘steps’ General Allen – arriving in ‘Kurdistan’ on Friday – will say should be taken?
Clinton, Juppé, Erdoğan, Daesh and the PKK
–and John Allen
http://www.voltairenet.org/article188337.html
off topic, but since the Great Satan no longer has any fun screwing around Syria, they have decided to change their target. They probably need something to patch their bruised ego, after a bad beating by Putin….
http://atimes.com/2015/10/china-concerned-over-us-plan-to-sail-near-disputed-south-china-sea-islands/
A US defense official told Reuters the United States was mulling sending ships within the next two weeks to waters inside the 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as territory around islands it has built in the Spratly chain.
Story coming out that top Iranian officials and IRGC leaders were abducted during the Haj stampede, which itself was a joint black op by the Mossad and Saudis, for the express purpose of grabbing them. If so, it certainly explains the threats made by the Iranians to the Saudis about missing and injured pilgrims.
http://themillenniumreport.com/2015/10/saudi-arabia-colluded-with-mossad-triggered-hajj-stampede-to-kidnap-iranian-diplomats-and-revolutionary-guards/#more-18464
WWIII indeed. It looks like USN is ready to sail into Chinese island and Chinese said it will not allow:http://atimes.com/2015/10/china-concerned-over-us-plan-to-sail-near-disputed-south-china-sea-islands/
So US want to have many fronst: Ukraine, Syria/Iraq/Iran, and SCS.
I am glad China and Russia put their past behind behind them, so they can deal with all this hot spots without worry about their back.
British reporter flips and tells the *real* news for a change (including Syria and Russia):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syjp9lsWBhc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Thanks, that was brilliant!.
definitely not a happy bunny……I guess he will be looking for honest work now.
Did you saw this? Is it real? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23FklwPEk6A
I did see it before.I think it is really video’s of some of the air-strikes.
Very close combat.
Apparently the Exceptional nation is very exceptional when it comes to it’s left hand not knowing what it’s right hand is doing:
http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2015/october/09/the-mystery-of-isis-toyota-army-solved/
ABC News in their article, “US Officials Ask How ISIS Got So Many Toyota Trucks,” reports:
US counter-terror officials have asked Toyota, the world’s second largest auto maker, to help them determine how ISIS has managed to acquire the large number of Toyota pick-up trucks and SUVs seen prominently in the terror group’s propaganda videos in Iraq, Syria and Libya, ABC News has learned.
Toyota says it does not know how ISIS obtained the vehicles and is “supporting” the inquiry led by the Terror Financing unit of the Treasury Department — part of a broad US effort to prevent Western-made goods from ending up in the hands of the terror group.
The report went on to cite Iraqi Ambassador to the US, Lukman Faily:
‘This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,’ Faily said. ‘How could these brand new trucks… these four wheel drives, hundreds of them — where are they coming from?’
Mystery Solved
Just last year it was reported that the US State Department had been sending in fleets of specifically Toyota-brand trucks into Syria to whom they claimed was the “Free Syrian Army.”
US foundation-funded Public Radio International (PRI) reported in a 2014 article titled, “This one Toyota pickup truck is at the top of the shopping list for the Free Syrian Army — and the Taliban,” that:
Recently, when the US State Department resumed sending non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels, the delivery list included 43 Toyota trucks.
Hiluxes were on the Free Syrian Army’s wish list. Oubai Shahbander, a Washington-based advisor to the Syrian National Coalition, is a fan of the truck.
“Specific equipment like the Toyota Hiluxes are what we refer to as force enablers for the moderate opposition forces on the ground,” he adds. Shahbander says the US-supplied pickups will be delivering troops and supplies into battle. Some of the fleet will even become battlefield weapons.
“Shahbander says the US-supplied pickups will be delivering troops and supplies into battle. Some of the fleet will even become battlefield weapons.”
And how right he was.The trucks have done just as he thought.Only they are doing that for their “current” ISIS owners.I’m thinking ISIS needs to send the US government and Mr Shahbander a couple of “thank you” notes for the gifts.
A P.S. to my other comment.
I wonder if those trucks have a locator device on them.Many/most new vehicles do have something like that I believe.In which case if they do,shouldn’t their locations be able to be accessed?
ISIS is evil, but theyre also very smart. I assume they would disable things like that.
If McCain and Brzezinski are supporting Al Qaeda, one would think that they should be in Guantanamo, as terrorist supporters. I am confused.
Funny story about a guy’s ex-truck appearing in ISIS hands in Syria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmZB-p-u55g&feature=youtu.be
The way this video is set up is brilliant. All of us with no media to tell us anything but Russian Media, we need this kind of juxtaposition of psuedofact and refutation of it. Cooler than cool! Makes tons more like this please!