Quote:The diplomatic world is abuzz with talk about the audacity of Vladimir Putin's gambits in the Crimea, Ukraine and, now, Syria. Notwithstanding all the anti-Russian palaver in the Western Press, an institution which is becoming increasingly ignored and despised by people in the streets, the Russian moves are predictable and consistent with Russia's patently justified insistence on a world devoid of a unipolar monopoly like that of the United States. Since the beginning of the Syrian war, a war planned by the United States, Britain and France, as has been revealed by Wikileaks and the former French foreign minister, and funded mostly by the Saudi Arabian and Qatari kakocracies, and facilitated by the Turkish Neo-Ottoman megalomaniac, Recep Tayyip Erdoghan, Russia has stood firmly on the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries, a posture historically snubbed by the U.S., France and the U.K. While Russia provided Syria with armaments, it did not do so in violation of any U.N.S.C. resolution nor was the provisioning of the Syrian Army free of charge. Those days when the Soviet Union unloaded vast quantities of weapons on allies are over. Today, Moscow expects payment for its products. And, today, Syria (which had zero debt in March 2011) has mortgaged the naval base at Tartous, accepted a line of credit with Moscow, and has depended on its closest ally, Iran, for further help. All this clever leveraging resulted in the Syrian government being able to withstand the war crimes committed by the American sociopaths in Washington. Syria is solid and its economy is improving despite the ravaging of its infrastructure by mostly foreign terrorists and some Syrian traitors whose fates are sealed in Syrian blood.

Russian advisers are a part of the relationship between Syria and its giant ally to the north. New weapons systems have to be absorbed without sending much-needed personnel to Russia for training on them. Russia simply sends the weapons by sea, mostly, along with the experts for training who are flown in usually to the Mazza Airbase outside Damascus. For a time, Russia also provided tactical advice to the Syrian high command based on Russia's own experience in fighting terrorism both in Afghanistan and Chechnya. That relationship was interrupted for a short time as the Syrian government experimented with Iranian general Qassem Solaymaani's new strategies which did not produce the results expected. Today, Russia is back. Why?

Most of this essay is based on actual evidence produced by our sources in Latakia. There is also room here for studied speculation as to the timing of the Russian intervention. I do not use the word "intervention" in a manner to suggest that the Russian army is taking over the battle from the Syrian Arab Army. Not by any means. Here, intervention means that Russia is going beyond merely diplomatic and armament support for the Syrian government. Russia, has embarked on a new plan designed to ramp up the costs to those countries embedded in institutionalized terrorism; i.e. the U.S., U.K. France, KSA, Qatar and Turkey.

All this is taking place with the clues abounding. King Salman of Saudi Arabia planned a much-trumpeted visit to Moscow in order to discuss how the Saudis could unhitch Russia from Dr. Assad. The king cancelled citing poor health. SyrPer has learned that the king of the pre-Iron Age kingdom cancelled because Sergei Lavrov told his counterpart in Riyaadh, Aadil Jubayr, a notorious American puppet, that Putin would not discuss anything having to do with Assad, but, that he was hoping oil prices would be on the agenda. Although, King Salmaan, was going to discuss prices, he wanted to condition cooperation in pricing with Russian abandonment of the Syrian president. (I have discussed in previous essays the Saudi and Turk obsession with Assad's ouster.)

Another clue to how President Putin is thinking occurred just 2 weeks ago when he dragged in the Turk ambassador to Moscow telling him to convey to Erdoghan a Russian "go to Hell". He told the ambassador, whose jaw reportedly sunk to floor level, that he was considering breaking diplomatic relations with Ankara if Erdoghan continued to support terrorists in Syria and Iraq. He concluded by calling Erdoghan a "Hitler". Turkey is now on notice that the Russian bear is not pleased with the actions of its president. Judging by election results, even the people of Turkey are now turning against Erdoghan and his Muslim Brotherhood political party.

Even General Gerasimov, Russia's very hard-lined and aggressive Chief of Staff, weighed in by issuing a warning to Erdoghan that there are missiles aimed right at his bedroom. The general would never have made such a statement unless he knew the Kremlin would not object. Sergei Lavrov, who is of Georgian and Armenian ethnic extraction, has understood the Ottoman mentality of Erdoghan, and has also been preparing the ground for the events which we are about to discuss.

And remember how Russia supposedly delivered a wing of MiG 31B "Foxhounds" to Syria. In truth, and we have been telling our readers for years, Syria has had the MiGs since at least 2007, but, were prohibited from using them except in a "theater war" with the Zionist Ghetto State. The MiG 31Bs were stored in underground, fortified hangars at different airbases in order to avoid any mass destruction. They were not permitted to fly, although Syria violated its agreement once when the Zionists struck the Jamraayaa complex on May 5, 2013 claiming they were hitting weapons systems destined for Hizbollah. Syria struck back by flying one MiG 31B from a base in Tartous Province over the Mediterranean to fire missiles at the Zionist nuclear site in Dimona.

Russia has also announced new naval drills off the coast of Syria to start this Tuesday. It is another sign of growing Russian impatience with American, British and French temporizing and hypocrisy in the war against terror.

In order to transfer large numbers of troops to Syria along with new technology, Russia needs to fly over various countries on specific routes. I have already responded to one reader who bewailed the Bulgarian government's rejection of such fly-overs. The Bulgarians insisted on the duty to inspect the airplanes. Russia told the Bulgarians "nyet" and has secured other routes. Bulgaria is playing with fire as it tries to placate the Americans whose irrational behavior implies a genuine paranoia about how the events they are conducting in Syria are playing out. Greece has okayed the over-flights, however, the route appears out of the question, now. But the best option, is that of the Caspian Sea over the nations of Iran and Iraq, neither of which has any objection to Russia using their airspace. That problem is solved completely. (Russia's best option would be over Turkey, but, the absurdity of that should be obvious to all.)

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zG14L0zIeT9s.kpMq17LD6lzc&hl=en

We can confirm the following facts on the ground: Russian ships are docking at both ports of Tartous and Latakia. Russia is expanding an airbase to the east of Latakia on flat ground. This airbase is protected by a huge constellation of air defense installations which include the S-300 and Pantsir systems. The runways being extended by the Russian and Syrian engineers appear designed to handle larger supply aircraft like the Antonov 124. In addition to this, a reported regiment of Speznaz troops are presently in the town of Slinfeh, (my wife's home town where we have no paucity of sources) along with military analysts. One relative told me everyone is learning some Russian and that, since their arrival, tourism has increased due to the stability and security attendant to the Russian's arrival.

The presence of Speznaz anti-insurgency forces from Russia disclosed a sad reality which occurred a few days ago. I was told by a source, Ali, that a highly trained sniper near the town of Al-Rubay'ah had held down Syrian troops for 4 weeks preventing them from advancing. The Speznaz commander learned of this problem and dispatched commandos trained to liquidate snipers like him. The Russians killed the sniper within two hours causing some consternation among Syrian field commanders. As it turned out, a renegade officer in the SAA, was discovered and arrested. He was deliberately preventing our troops from assaulting the sniper's position. His communications with Alqaeda in Hatay, in Turk-Occupied Syria, revealed the whole story. He will be executed for treason.

Look carefully at the map provided. Scroll about to see why Slinfeh was selected. It certainly was not just because of its incredible beauty. It sits at the highest level of the mountain range under the shadow of one of Syria's most powerful communications beacons. It is right at the summit, which if crossed, takes you down a magnificent route with the entire Waadi Al-Ghaab presented like a crazyquilt blanket. You can see everything as you wind your way down from the cool heights to the windy and hot valley below. Jisr Al-Shughoor lies just below Hallooz and Ghassaaniyya, the quaint Christian villages violated by the stinking wretches from Tunisia and Libya who brought their virulent strain of syphilis with them. Russia appears to be interested in any area which borders Turkey. We might want to watch how this focus on Erdoghan evolves.

Both Turkey and the Zionist Entity appear to be investing more in the conflict. This comes at a time when Cameron and Abbot have made the decision to intensify their roles despite the misgivings of millions of their citizens. This ratcheting up of the so-called war against ISIS has been interpreted in Moscow as a poorly disguised campaign to destroy Syria fully and finally, to turn it into Libya. Sergei Lavrov said exactly that yesterday when he told the world Syria would not become another Libya a reminder of the seething anger in both Moscow and Beijing over the ruse played on them at the UNSC which led to the annihilation of the Libyan state and the senseless murder of its leader by an illiterate Libyan teenager and all this to supposedly protect civilians. Now we have the same ISIS created by the West giving the West the excuse it needs to go in and finish off the government in Damascus. I am afraid the pariah regimes in Washington and London are in for a big surprise.

This is what I know so far about the Russian presence in Syria. I know there are more advisers flying into Damascus for what is an assertion of Russia's absolute insistence on protecting its allies. With Iran now out of the embargo status which kept it from flexing its muscles fully, Moscow knows it has the kind of depth and support it needs to help the Syrian people to rid themselves of this plague once and for all.

Quote:Iran this week sent its first ground troops to Syria, around 1,000 marines and elite troops of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). They moved straight into Ghorin, a small military air facility just south of the port town of Latakia, and hooked up with the just-landed Russian marines at Jablah. Three weeks ago, DEBKA file began reporting on Russian-Iranian military intervention afoot for saving the Syrian ruler Bashar Assad, followed on September 1 by the first disclosure of the Russian buildup in Syria.

Our military sources report now that Moscow is about to send a shipment of advanced S-300 air defense missile systems for deployment at Jablah, the base the Russians have built outside Latakia for the intake of the Russian troops. The S-300 systems will also shield the Iranian facility at Ghorin.

Jablah has been converted into a busy depot for the Russian troops still arriving in Syria, combatants from units of Marine Brigades 810 and 336.

Russian MiG-31 interceptor craft standing by at the Mezza airbase at Damascus airport offer the combined Russian-Iranian force air cover. To the west, the giant Dmitri Donskoy TK-20 nuclear submarine is on its way to Syrian waters. Latakia is therefore fast growing into a powerful Russian-Iranian military enclave, able to accommodate Assad and top regime officials if they are forced to leave Damascus.

According to our military sources, it is too soon to determine the exact function of this enclave, whether defensive or, after settling in, the Russian and/or the Iranian forces are planning to go after Syrian rebel and Islamic State forces making gains in northern Syria.

There is no evidence to bear out the curious briefing high-ranking defense sources gave Israeli military correspondents Thursday that the incoming Iranian troops have come to beef up the large-scale Syrian army-Hizballah units, who have been unsuccessfully battering away at the rebel fighters holding the key town of Zabadani for nearly two months. Our sources find the Iranian and Russian units fully occupied for now in expanding and outfitting their new quarters at Ghorin and Jablah.

Quote:

Who's to Blame for Syria Mess? Putin!

September 13, 2015

Exclusive: Official Washington's new "group think" is to blame Russia's President Putin for the Syrian crisis, although it was the neocons and President George W. Bush who started the current Mideast mess by invading Iraq, the Saudis who funded Al Qaeda, and the Israelis who plotted "regime change," says Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
Sen. Lindsey Graham may have been wrong about pretty much everything related to the Middle East, but at least he has the honesty to tell Americans that the current trajectory of the wars in Syria and Iraq will require a U.S. re-invasion of the region and an open-ended military occupation of Syria, draining American wealth, killing countless Syrians and Iraqis, and dooming thousands, if not tens of thousands, of U.S. troops.
Graham's grim prognostication of endless war may be a factor in his poll numbers below one percent, a sign that even tough-talking Republicans aren't eager to relive the disastrous Iraq War. Regarding the mess in Syria, there are, of course, other options, such as cooperation with Russia and Iran to resist the gains of the Islamic State and Al Qaeda and a negotiated power-sharing arrangement in Damascus. But those practical ideas are still being ruled out.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Russian government photo)

Official Washington's "group think" still holds that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "must go," that U.S. diplomats should simply deliver a "regime change" ultimatum not engage in serious compromise, and that the U.S. government must obstruct assistance from Russia and Iran even if doing so risks collapsing Assad's secular regime and opening the door to an Al Qaeda/Islamic State victory.
Of course, if that victory happens, there will be lots of finger-pointing splitting the blame between President Barack Obama for not being "tough" enough and Russia's President Vladimir Putin who has become something of a blame-magnet for every geopolitical problem. On Friday, during a talkat Fort Meade in Maryland, Obama got out front on assigning fault to Putin.
Obama blamed Putin for not joining in imposing the U.S.-desired "regime change" on Syria. But Obama's "Assad must go!" prescription carries its own risks as should be obvious from the U.S. experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Ukraine. Ousting some designated "bad guy" doesn't necessarily lead to some "good guy" taking over.
More often, "regime change" produces bloody chaos in the target country with extremists filling the vacuum. The idea that these transitions can be handled with precision is an arrogant fiction that may be popular during conferences at Washington's think tanks, but the scheming doesn't work out so well on the ground.
And, in building the case against Assad, there's been an element of "strategic communications" the new catch phrase for the U.S. government's mix of psychological operations, propaganda and P.R. The point is to use and misuse information to manage the perceptions of the American people and the world's public to advance Washington's strategic goals.
So, although it's surely true that Syrian security forces struck back fiercely at times in the brutal civil war, some of that reporting has been exaggerated, such as the now-discredited claims that Assad's forces launched a sarin gas attack against Damascus suburbs on Aug. 21, 2013. The evidence now suggests that Islamic extremists carried out a "false flag" operation with the goal of tricking Obama into bombing the Syrian military, a deception that almost worked. [See Consortiumnews.com's "The Collapsing Syria-Sarin Case."]
Even earlier, independent examinations of how the Syrian crisis developed in 2011 reveal that Sunni extremists were part of the opposition mix from the start, killing Syrian police and soldiers. That violence, in turn, provoked government retaliation that further divided Syria and exploited resentments of the Sunni majority, which has long felt marginalized in a country where Alawites, Shiites, Christians and secularists are better represented in the Assad regime. [See Consortiumnews.com's "Hidden Origins of Syria's Civil War."]
An Obvious Solution
The obvious solution would be a power-sharing arrangement that gives Sunnis more of a say but doesn't immediately require Assad, who is viewed as the protector of the minorities, to step down as a precondition. If Obama opted for that approach, many of Assad's Sunni political opponents on the U.S. payroll could be told to accept such an arrangement or lose their funding. Many if not all would fall in line. But that requires Obama abandoning his "Assad must go!" mantra.
So, while Official Washington continues to talk tough against Assad and Putin, the military situation in Syria continues to deteriorate with the Islamic State and Al Qaeda's affiliate, the Nusra Front, gaining ground, aided by financial and military support from U.S. regional "allies," including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Sunni-led Persian Gulf states. Israel also has provided help to the Nusra Front, caring for its wounded troops along the Golan Heights and bombing pro-government forces inside Syria.
President Obama may feel that his negotiations with Iran to constrain its nuclear program when Israeli leaders and American neocons favored a bomb-bomb-bombing campaign have put him in a political bind where he must placate Israel and Saudi Arabia, including support for Israeli-Saudi desired "regime change" in Syria and tolerance of the Saudi-led invasion of Yemen. [See Consortiumnews.com's "On Syria, Incoherence Squared."]
Privately, I'm told, Obama agreed to and may have even encouraged Putin's increased support for the Assad regime, realizing it's the only real hope of averting a Sunni-extremist victory. But publicly Obama senses that he can't endorse this rational move. Thus, Obama, who has become practiced at speaking out of multiple sides of his mouth, joined in bashing Russia sharing that stage with the usual suspects, including The New York Times' editorial page.
In a lead editorial on Saturday, entitled "Russia's Risky Military Moves in Syria," the Times excoriated Russia and Putin for trying to save Assad's government. Though Assad won a multi-party election in the portions of Syria where balloting was possible in 2014, the Times deems him a "ruthless dictator" and seems to relish the fact that his "hold on his country is weakening."
The Times then reprises the "group think" blaming the Syrian crisis on Putin. "Russia has long been a major enabler of Mr. Assad, protecting him from criticism and sanctions at the United Nations Security Council and providing weapons for his army," the Times asserts. "But the latest assistance may be expanding Russian involvement in the conflict to a new and more dangerous level."
Citing the reported arrival of a Russian military advance team, the Times wrote: "The Americans say Russia's intentions are unclear. But they are so concerned that Secretary of State John Kerry called the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, twice this month and warned of a possible confrontation' with the United States, if the buildup led to Russian offensive operations in support of Mr. Assad's forces that might hit American trainers or allies.
"The United States is carrying out airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State, which is trying to establish a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, as well as struggling to train and arm moderate opposition groups that could secure territory taken from the extremists."
Double Standards, Squared
In other words, in the bizarre world of elite American opinion, Russia is engaging in "dangerous" acts when it assists an internationally recognized government fighting a terrorist menace, but it is entirely okay for the United States to engage in unilateral military actions inside Syrian territory without the government's approval.
Amid this umbrage over Russia helping the Syrian government, it also might be noted that the U.S. government routinely provides military assistance to regimes all over the world, including military advisers to the embattled U.S.-created regime in Iraq and sophisticated weapons to nations that carry out attacks beyond their own borders, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Clearly, the Times believes that what is good for the U.S. goose is not tolerable for the Russian gander. Indeed, if Russia's assistance to the Syrian government leads to a "confrontation" with U.S. forces or allies, it is Russia that is held to blame though its forces are there with the Syrian government's permission while the U.S. forces and allies aren't.
The Times also defends the bizarre effort by the U.S. State Department last week to organize an aerial blockade to prevent Russia from resupplying the Syrian army. The Times states:
"The United States has asked countries on the flight path between Russia and Syria to close their airspace to Russian flights, unless Moscow can prove they aren't being used to militarily resupply the Assad regime. Bulgaria has done so, but Greece, another NATO ally, and Iraq, which is depending on America to save it from the Islamic State, so far have not. World leaders should use the United Nations General Assembly meeting this month to make clear the dangers a Russian buildup would pose for efforts to end the fighting."
Given the tragic record of The New York Times and other mainstream U.S. media outlets promoting disastrous "regime change" schemes, including President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq in 2003 and President Obama's bombing campaign in Libya in 2011, you might think the editors would realize that the best-laid plans of America's armchair warriors quite often go awry.
And, in this case, the calculation that removing Assad and installing some Washington-think-tank-approved political operative will somehow solve Syria's problems might very well end up in the collapse of the largely secular government in Damascus and the bloody arrival of the Islamic State head-choppers and/or Al Qaeda's band of terrorism plotters.
With the black flag of Islamic terrorism flying over the ancient city of Damascus, Sen. Graham's grim prognostication of a U.S. military invasion of Syria followed by an open-ended U.S. occupation may prove prophetic, as the United States enters its final transformation from a citizens' republic into an authoritarian imperial state.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America's Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com). You also can order Robert Parry's trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America's Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.

Quote:

Photos: Russia's forward operating base in Syria is growing at a rapid pace

• STRATFOR
  

• 20h
  
• 13,517
  
• 8
  

• FACEBOOK
  
• LINKEDIN
  
• TWITTER
  
• EMAIL
  
• PRINT
  

The Russian military deployment to the Bassel al Assad air base in Latakia, Syria, is continuing at a rapid tempo, Stratfor can confirm. Previousimagery of the airfield, taken Sept. 4, showed significant engineering works underway. New imagery from Sept. 15 reveals the completion of several large concrete aprons that were previously under construction.
A large amount of Russian military equipment has also arrived at the airfield. A battalion-sized Russian contingent now appears to be located at the base, along with artillery and attack helicopter support. Several large Russian transport aircraft are also visible on the runway and the nearby ramps.

Courtesy of Stratfor

Most notable is the presence of four military helicopters. The helicopters do not have the rotors installed on them in the imagery, indicating that they may have recently been delivered. (Helicopters are often shipped long distance by transport aircraft, with rotors removed to allow them to fit in the cargo hold.) The shape of the helicopter fuselages, along with statements by anonymous U.S. intelligence sources, indicate that there are two Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters and two Mi-17 Hip transport helicopters.
These rotary wing aircraft could serve in a limited air support capacity, either in an offensive role or as overhead protection and early warning for Russian positions at the airfield. Apart from that, their transport capability enables them to serve as in-country liaison platforms, moving Russian officers and advisers around Syria comparatively quickly. If Russia is still considering deploying fighter aircraft, the deployment of these helicopters would form the basis of an initial search and rescue capability for downed Russian pilots.

Courtesy of Stratfor

Another striking element of the new imagery is the presence of materiel that suggests a large Russian mechanized infantry unit is on the ground. Several lines of light, wheeled BTR-type armored personnel carriers are evident, as well as a line of possible T-90 main battle tanks.
The number of vehicles suggests that two mechanized infantry companies and one armored company are present, combining into a basic battalion-sized combat element. Although this is a large unit, the fact that it is located away from the frontline and near valuable infrastructure indicates a basing pattern rather than an immediate, tactically deployable force.
Because of the quantity and combined weight of the equipment, it is likely that it did not arrive solely through the air bridge the Russians have established at the base. Large numbers of Russian ships have been observed traveling between the Black Sea and the ports of Latakia and Tartus in Syria. It is likely that much of the heavier paraphernalia was delivered by sea. That Russia is centralizing this equipment at the Bassel al Assad air base indicates the probable intent to set up an actual Russian forward operating base at this location.

Courtesy of Stratfor

Off the runway, a field artillery battery is clearly visible. This unit, unlike the other Russian vehicles, is not simply parked up in an assembly area. Instead, it is actually deployed in a tactical position. This indicates that the artillery will be used for the protection of the air base. During the establishment of a forward operating base, any defender is vulnerable to indirect fire attack (mortars or artillery) from hostile forces in this case, the rebels.
Such an attack would be designed to inflict casualties or destroy equipment, but it could also interrupt operation of the air base if the runway were damaged. By deploying an artillery battery, Russian forces can defend the base and have the ability to conduct counter-battery fire missions to limit the effects of possible enemy indirect attack.

Courtesy of Stratfor

Now that Stratfor has identified key force structures at the air base near Latakia, we are watching closely for a continued military buildup. Russia could be in a holding position, trying to make a final decision on whether to deploy fighter aircraft to the base, or it could be deploying initial forces to assess the situation on the ground before moving forward. Either way, at this stage, the rate of deployment is already meaningful.
Both the naval route and the air bridge provide Russia with a durable and uninterrupted conduit to Syria. This could be in an effort to supply the forces of Damascus against all enemies, or to enable Moscow to input a contingent of its own.
Despite having established a significant footprint on the ground, there are still risks for the Russians. Not only are the United States and Turkey concerned about interference from Russian jets in Syrian airspace, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week to try to reach an understanding on the limits of Russia's activities in an attempt to avoid interfering with Israel's watch on Hezbollah. Moscow now has the means to implant itself in the region, but the question remains: How far will it go?
Read the original article on STRATFOR. Copyright 2015.

Quote:Now the truth emerges: how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq
Seumas Milne

[URL="http://twitter.com/seumasmilne"]
@seumasmilne
[/URL]
Wednesday 3 June 201520.56 BSTLast modified on Thursday 4 June 201511.37 BST

The war on terror, that campaign without end launched 14 years ago by George Bush, is tying itself up in ever more grotesque contortions. On Monday the trial in London of a Swedish man, Bherlin Gildo, accused of terrorism in Syria, collapsed after it became clear British intelligence had been arming the same rebel groups the defendant was charged with supporting.
The prosecution abandoned the case, apparently to avoid embarrassing the intelligence services. The defence argued that going ahead withthe trial would have been an "affront to justice" when there was plenty of evidence the British state was itself providing "extensive support" to the armed Syrian opposition.
That didn't only include the "non-lethal assistance" boasted of by the government (including body armour and military vehicles), but training, logistical support and the secret supply of "arms on a massive scale". Reports were cited that MI6 had cooperated with the CIA on a "rat line" of arms transfers from Libyan stockpiles to the Syrian rebels in 2012 after the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
Clearly, the absurdity of sending someone to prison for doing what ministers and their security officials were up to themselves became too much. But it's only the latest of a string of such cases. Less fortunate was a London cab driver Anis Sardar, who was given a life sentence a fortnight earlier for taking part in 2007 in resistance to the occupation of Iraq by US and British forces. Armed opposition to illegal invasion and occupation clearly doesn't constitute terrorism or murder on most definitions, including the Geneva convention.
But terrorism is now squarely in the eye of the beholder. And nowhere is that more so than in the Middle East, where today's terrorists are tomorrow's fighters against tyranny and allies are enemies often at the bewildering whim of a western policymaker's conference call.
For the past year, US, British and other western forces have been back in Iraq, supposedly in the cause of destroying the hyper-sectarian terror group Islamic State (formerly known as al-Qaida in Iraq). This was after Isis overran huge chunks of Iraqi and Syrian territory and proclaimed a self-styled Islamic caliphate.
The campaign isn't going well. Last month, Isis rolled into the Iraqi city of Ramadi, while on the other side of the now nonexistent border its forces conquered the Syrian town of Palmyra. Al-Qaida's official franchise, the Nusra Front, has also been making gains in Syria.
Some Iraqis complain that the US sat on its hands while all this was going on. The Americans insist they are trying to avoid civilian casualties, and claim significant successes. Privately, officials say they don't want to be seen hammering Sunni strongholds in a sectarian war and risk upsetting their Sunni allies in the Gulf.
A revealing light on how we got here has now been shone by a recently declassified secret US intelligence report, written in August 2012, which uncannily predicts and effectively welcomes the prospect of a "Salafist principality" in eastern Syria and an al-Qaida-controlled Islamic state in Syria and Iraq. In stark contrast to western claims at the time, the Defense Intelligence Agency document identifies al-Qaida in Iraq (which became Isis) and fellow Salafists as the "major forces driving the insurgency in Syria" and states that "western countries, the Gulf states and Turkey" were supporting the opposition's efforts to take control of eastern Syria.
Raising the "possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality", the Pentagon report goes on, "this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran)".

American forces bomb one set of rebels while backing another in Syria

Which is pretty well exactly what happened two years later. The report isn't a policy document. It's heavily redacted and there are ambiguities in the language. But the implications are clear enough. A year into the Syrian rebellion, the US and its allies weren't only supporting and arming an opposition they knew to be dominated by extreme sectarian groups; they were prepared to countenance the creation of some sort of "Islamic state" despite the "grave danger" to Iraq's unity as a Sunni buffer to weaken Syria.
That doesn't mean the US created Isis, of course, though some of its Gulf allies certainly played a role in it as the US vice-president, Joe Biden, acknowledged last year. But there was no al-Qaida in Iraq until the US and Britain invaded. And the US has certainly exploited the existence of Isis against other forces in the region as part of a wider drive to maintain western control.
The calculus changed when Isis started beheading westerners and posting atrocities online, and the Gulf states are now backing other groups in the Syrian war, such as the Nusra Front. But this US and western habit of playing with jihadi groups, which then come back to bite them, goes back at least to the 1980s war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, which fostered the original al-Qaida under CIA tutelage.
It was recalibrated during the occupation of Iraq, when US forces led by General Petraeus sponsored an El Salvador-style dirty war of sectarian death squads to weaken the Iraqi resistance. And it was reprised in 2011 in the Nato-orchestrated war in Libya, where Isis last week took control of Gaddafi's home town of Sirte.
In reality, US and western policy in the conflagration that is now the Middle East is in the classic mould of imperial divide-and-rule. American forces bomb one set of rebels while backing another in Syria, and mount what are effectively joint military operations with Iran against Isis in Iraq while supporting Saudi Arabia's military campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen. However confused US policy may often be, a weak, partitioned Iraq and Syria fit such an approach perfectly.
What's clear is that Isis and its monstrosities won't be defeated by the same powers that brought it to Iraq and Syria in the first place, or whose open and covert war-making has fostered it in the years since. Endless western military interventions in the Middle East have brought only destruction and division. It's the people of the region who can cure this disease not those who incubated the virus.

David Guyatt Wrote:Imagine that. MI6 watching British muslims being groomed for an ISIS Jihad in Syria and doing nothing, absolutely nothing to stop it.

Quote:May 1 2006 - Biden: Split Iraq into 3 different regions

The senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee proposed Monday that Iraq be divided into three separate regions Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni with a central government in Baghdad.In an op-ed essay in Monday's edition of The New York Times, Sen. Joseph Biden. D-Del., wrote that the idea "is to maintain a united Iraq by decentralizing it, giving each ethno-religious group ... room to run its own affairs, while leaving the central government in charge of common interests."

2012 Defense Intelligence Agency document: West will facilitate rise of Islamic State "in order to isolate the Syrian regime"

THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT
...
ISI COULD ALSO DECLARE AN ISLAMIC STATE THROUGH ITS UNION WITH OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA, WHICH WILL CREATE GRAVE DANGER IN REGARDS TO UNIFYING IRAQ AND THE PROTECTION OF ITS TERRITORY.

The U.S. plans, all along, were and are to create a "Sunni state" entity in west Iraq and east Syria. Whether this entity is a salafist Islamic State or has some other form of government seems to be irrelevant to U.S. foreign policy planners like Vice President Joe Biden.

The war on the Islamic State that Obama declared was thereby never serious. It is just an excuse to justify further meddling in the Iraq and Syria. But that U.S. tactic underestimates, or willingly creates, dangers to other countries as the Islamic State is a breeding ground for international terrorism. The U.S. unwillingness to attack the Islamic State has been noticed:
International coalition only simulating anti-terrorist efforts in Middle East Russian FM

"Regrettably, all attempts of the international coalition to counter the terrorist group Islamic State look more like some demonstrative steps, an attempt at simulating anti-terrorist activity," [Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova] said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

---

@Hayder_alKhoei
Pesh commander on ISIS supply line b/w #Syria & #Iraq: coalition can see it very clearly. Why don't they do anything? I don't know.Jordanian officer describes seeing Isis convoys crossing b/w Iraq & Syria on an almost daily basis. "But we're not allowed to hit them"

The U.S. and its "coalition" of Islamic State financiers and sympathizers are unwilling to remove the Islamic State entity. Even now, when the possibly catastrophic consequences of its installation become more and more visible, the attitude is one of willful ignorance. Others are therefore taking up the task and they mean business.
@MicahZenko

Yesterday, Syrian aircraft conducted 25 airstrikes on ISIS targets. In past week (Sep. 12-18), US-led coalition conducted 26.
Iran News Round Up - September 18, 2015

IRGC Major General Safavi claimed that Russia is in sync with Iran regarding regional crises, including Syria. The Supreme Leader's Senior Military Advisor accused the U.S., Israel, and "some Arab countries" of deploying "rented terrorists" to Syria to overthrow President Bashar al Assad.

A while ago the Iranian commander tasked with the fight against the Islamic State, Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, informed the military leadership of the Russian Federation about the state of the Syrian and Iraqi armies and the situation on the ground. He requested additional support. The Islamic State has attracted some 2,500 fighters from the Russian Federation, mostly Chechen. The return of these fighters to Russia could initiate a renewed terror war against the Russian state. This danger compels Russia to act.

Four Russian fighter jets deployed in Syria: US official

Russia has deployed four fighter jets to an airbase in Syria where it has been building up forces in recent weeks, alarming Washington, a US official said Friday.

Russian elite units on the land of Zabadani, Homs, Hama and Aleppo

by Elijah J. Magnier"Al-Rai" learned that "Special Elite Russian combat forces arrived to Hama, Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, as well as Zabadani to monitor, participate and study the military map on the field and suggest future workflow combat plans. These Special Forces submit to the operating room suggestions to determine the full plan to start the flow of further Russian special combat forces and troops on the battlefield all over the Syrian map where it is necessary".

This development will be the largest Russian external military intervention since Afghanistan in 1979.
A very senior field commander around Zabadani city said that "there are small Russian combat units, mostly sniper unit that we call the "Ivan unit", another reconnaissance unit, a unit of urban warfare, and advanced missiles unit in the area of ​operations run by the Syrian Army. "

Russia, and Iran, now mean business and are actively intervening. China may join that coalition to fight the Uyghur separatist Turkey smuggled to Syria to join the Islamic State. The recent movements have already led to a retreat in the often repeated old U.S. line that "Assad has to go" before any real negotiations about whatever can begin.

Kerry declared that "Assad has to go" but said there was some flexibility in the "modality" and timing of his departure."We've said for some period of time it doesn't have to be done on day one, or month one, or whatever," he said.

"Or whatever ..."

Prediction: Bashar Assad will still be President of Syria when Barack Obama is no longer the President of the United States.

But that was only part one of the issues at hand. The real question is if the United States is willing to give up on its plans for the "salafist principality" to partition Syria and Iraq and to start a serious fight against the Islamic State. The alternative for the U.S. and its allies is to use the Islamic State to create another Afghanistan like quagmire for the now deployed Russian troops.
But doing so would also create the possibility of alike consequences: another 9/11. What will Obama or whoever handles him decide?

Posted by b on September 19, 2015 at 01:55 PM | Permalink

Quote:Chinese Uyghur terrorists establishing base in Syria

A new article reported that 3,500 Uyghurs are settling in a village near Jisr-al Shagour that was just taken from Assad, close to the stronghold of Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) that is in the Turkey-backed Army of Conquest. They are allegedly under the supervision of Turkish intelligence that has been accused of supplying fake passports to recruit Chinese Uyghurs to wage jihad in Syria.

The news comes on the heels of TIP capturing a Syrian airbase and acquiring MIG fighter jets as well as other advanced weaponry, similar to ISIS capturing Iraqi army's advanced US weaponry.

It also comes on the heels of the Bangkok bombing at the shrine frequented by Chinese tourists, with Thai authorities now drawing a link to Uyghurs "and the same gang that attacked the Thai Consulate in Turkey" in reference to Turkey's Grey Wolves.

This seems to corroborate IHS Jane's analyst Anthony Davis's assessment that Grey Wolves are the likely culprit, given their anti-Chinese protests and violent demonstration back in July.

Through Turkey's support for the Army of Conquest, TIP has risen to prominence within the anti-Assad coalition and played a key role in defeating the Syrian army at Jisr al Shughour earlier this year.

The most prominent TIP fighter to emerge from the Jisr al Shughur videos was the spokesman for TIP's "Syria branch" since 2014, Abu Ridha al-Turkistani. In the videos he led fighters to take over a building, and climbed a clock tower to plant a black-and-white Jabhat al Nusra style flag on which "Turkistan Islamic Party" was written in Arabic.

These Uyghur militants have claimed a series of high-profile terrorists attacks in China in 2013 and 2014, with some Uyghurs calling for anintifada against the Chinese communist regime.

Now that TIP has established a base in Syria and is expanding its presence and recruitment courtesy of its Turkish sponsors, China will have to follow through with its 2013 recommendation "Take fight to ETIM before threat grows" and deploy troops to Syria.

Non-interference does not mean inaction on core interests

Some pundits may point to China's non-interference principle as an impasse to action. However, China's non-interference principle is more in reference to meddling in other countries' domestics politics, such as US/western penchant for intervention and violating other countries' sovereignty to overthrow autocratic regimes they dislike. Non-interference policy does not mean inaction when China's security and interests are threatened.

It is not difficult for China to take action when its core interests are threatenedthat means violation of its sovereignty, territorial integrity, economic development and regime survival.

At the 2011 IISS Asia Security Summit, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie spelled out China's core interests as the following: "The core interests include anything related to sovereignty, stability and form of government. China is now pursuing socialism. If there is any attempt to reject this path, it will touch upon China's core interests. Or, if there is any attempt to encourage any part of China to secede, that also touches upon China's core interests related to our land, sea or air. Then, anything that is related to China's national economic and social development also touches upon China core interests".

If the TIP continues to gain power within the Army of Conquest that is a jihadi witches brew of various al Qaeda affiliates and salafist extremists, Xinjiang may become the next Afghanistan and follow the pattern of Afpak, Syria/Iraq, with local militant forces/cross border havens attracting foreign fighters, and enjoying material and diplomatic support from Turkey and other outside powers with shared ideology/interests.

Moreover, the Assad regime is currently still the legal and UN-recognized government of Syria, despite only holding 1/3 of its territory. If Assad asks and gives permission for Russia, China and other SCO members to assist him militarily, that would be in accordance with international law.

This differs from the current US-led anti-ISIS coalition airstrikes in Syria that is neither operating under a UN mandate nor permission from the sovereign government, although it enjoys implicit permission to some extent from the Assad regime to fight ISIS. In 2014 Britain's David Cameron hesitated to participate in Syrian airstrikes precisely due to fears of violating international law.

Turkey's proxy war with China

With Erdogan waging an Islamist proxy war on China, Kurds, Assad, Sisi, Netanyahu via Al Qaeda affiliates, Army of Conquest, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, it is no wonder Syria and Egypt both applied to join the China-led SCO in June this year.

Thus Syria and China both share threats from the Army of Conquest that is attacking Assad and China's Xinjiang. As Peter Lee noted, it is also worrying for the Chinese that when Palestinian President Abbas visited Erdogan's new presidential palace in January 2015, the honor guards of 16 soldiers dressed in historical warrior costumes included a Uyghur.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7416[/ATTACH]

Each warrior represents one of the 16 "great (or historic) Turkish empires" commemorated on Turkey's official seal, one of which is the Uyghur Khanate that had subjected the Tang Dynasty to a de facto tributary relation when the Chinese empire was weak.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7417[/ATTACH]

Thanks to Hurriyet, we know that the Uyghur warrior was the sixth man from the top of the steps on the left.

With Erdogan expanding Turkey's influence in Syria and ambitions to reconstitute the "Turkic world from the Adriatic Sea to the Great Wall" of China, should SCO aspirant member Syria request aid and grant permission, China can indeed march its troops across the Silk Road to "take the fight to ETIM before threat grows."

Paul Rigby Wrote:At long last, it would appear, the full weight of the SCO is about to be brought to bear in Syria: China in Syria? Ready to Join Russia in ISIS fight September 19th, 2015 - Dr. Christina Lin Times of Israel "If Assad asks, China can deploy troops to Syria"

Quote:Chinese Uyghur terrorists establishing base in Syria Turkey's proxy war with China With Erdogan waging an Islamist proxy war on China, Kurds, Assad, Sisi, Netanyahu via Al Qaeda affiliates, Army of Conquest, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, it is no wonder Syria and Egypt both applied to join the China-led SCO in June this year. Thus Syria and China both share threats from the Army of Conquest that is attacking Assad and China's Xinjiang. As Peter Lee noted, it is also worrying for the Chinese that when Palestinian President Abbas visited Erdogan's new presidential palace in January 2015, the honor guards of 16 soldiers dressed in historical warrior costumes included a Uyghur. Each warrior represents one of the 16 "great (or historic) Turkish empires" commemorated on Turkey's official seal, one of which is the Uyghur Khanate that had subjected the Tang Dynasty to a de facto tributary relation when the Chinese empire was weak. Thanks to Hurriyet, we know that the Uyghur warrior was the sixth man from the top of the steps on the left. With Erdogan expanding Turkey's influence in Syria and ambitions to reconstitute the "Turkic world from the Adriatic Sea to the Great Wall" of China, should SCO aspirant member Syria request aid and grant permission, China can indeed march its troops across the Silk Road to "take the fight to ETIM before threat grows."

In other words, the SCO is taking military form, and preparing to go toe-to-toe with NATO.