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Flashback Best of the Web: Jihadi Manpower, not 'civil war': Mercenaries from 81 different nationalities are fighting in Syria

Ishaan Tharoor
Washington Post
Sun, 24 Aug 2014 21:45 UTC
Brit jihadists
© Stringer / Reuters'Woohoo! This is so much fun! I'm getting paid American dollars to ride this American tank and pretend I'm Syrian!'
It's estimated that the three-year conflict in Syria has drawn foreign fighters to its frontlines at a rate faster than any such war in modern memory, including the struggle of the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The group that likely boasts the majority of such combatants is the Islamic State, the powerful terrorist organization that now commands a stretch of territory from central Syria to the environs of Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

The presence of these foreign jihadists has dominated media attention of late. Earlier this week, reports emerged of an American fighter slain in Syria in a battle with another Islamist faction. On Thursday, the White House identified nearly a dozen Americans believed to have joined the conflict in Syria. A British national is suspected to have beheaded American journalist James Foley this month, while a pair of Australians have gained notoriety for their habit of posting selfies on social media of them grinning while clutching the severed heads of Assad regime soldiers.

The Soufan Group, a New York-based intelligence firm, estimated in June that there were at least 12,000 foreign fighters from 81 countries in the Syrian conflict, including some 3,000 European nationals. Given the Islamic State's ascendance - and its slick online recruitment operation - it's probable that the bulk of the Western militants are in its ranks. The Economist published a handy graphic of the breakdown this week:

Comment:
The total numbers are probably higher...
Understatement of the decade.

The Russians alone have sent about 70,000 to hell since 2015. The total number of foreign fighters shipped into Syria since 2011 is probably around 200,000, or higher.

One country heftily contributing to 'Jihadi Manpower', and not even mentioned above, is Pakistan, a Muslim country of some quarter-billion people and lots and lots of unemployed, Saudi-madrassa-educated young males.

A 'civil war' this most certainly aint. It's a dirty, dirty proxy war, and elites from Washington to Islamabad are all in on it.

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Cross

Best of the Web: Speaking the Unspeakable: The Assassination and Martyrdom of Thomas Merton

Edward Curtin
edwardcurtin.com
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 21:03 UTC
A Quasi-Review of The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton by Hugh Turley & David Martin
"Killing a man who says 'No!' is a risky business," the priest replied, "because even a corpse can go on whispering 'No! No! No! with a persistence and obstinacy that only certain corpses are capable of. And how can you silence a corpse?" - Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine
thomas merton
Fifty years have elapsed since Thomas Merton died under mysterious circumstances in a cottage at a Red Cross Conference Center outside Bangkok, Thailand where he was attending an international inter-faith monastic conference. The truth behind his death has been concealed until now through the lies and deceptions of a cast of characters, religious, secular, and U.S. governmental, whose actions chill one to the bone. But he has finally found his voice through Hugh Turley and David Martin, who tell the suppressed truth of Merton's last minutes on earth on December 10, 1968.

This is an extraordinary book in so many ways. First, because the authors prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Trappist monk and anti-war writer Thomas Merton was assassinated and did not die in a fabricated accident, as has been claimed for all these years.

Comment: The CIA can't help doing what it does for satanic forces, but it's appalling that a monastery appears to be covering up the murder of one of its own.

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Cupcake Pink

Best of the Web: Holding a royal wedding amid Britain's third-world level 21% poverty rate is a provocation

John Wight
Sputnik
Sat, 28 Apr 2018 17:08 UTC
poverty uk
The days of a royal birth or wedding being able to forge a national consensus in Britain are over. Not now. Not when so many are suffering. Not when social and economic injustice has reached Dickensian levels. And certainly not when revulsion of the country's power elite has become so entrenched.

On the contrary, such royal events only serve to emphasise the incompatibility of the monarchy with democracy and the nation's collective intelligence in the 21st century.

How could it be otherwise at a time of rising poverty, brute inequality, social injustice, and growing public anger over a political and media establishment whose detachment from the lived experience of millions is near complete?
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Hiliter

Best of the Web: US House Intelligence publishes final report on 'Russian collusion'... THERE WAS NONE. Trump cleared


RT
Fri, 27 Apr 2018 15:57 UTC
US capitol building
© Jim Young / Reuters
The US House Intelligence Committee has released a redacted declassified version of a report on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which officially clears President Trump of any collusion.

"While the Committee found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government, the investigation did find poor judgment and ill-considered actions by the Trump and Clinton campaigns," it said.

The 253-page document was produced based on a year-long investigation into the alleged Russian meddling. Representative Mike Conaway said the heavy redactions of the text were made on the insistence of the US intelligence community.

Comment: There you have it folks. 18 months of politiking by the Swamp with fake intel and fake news, all just to control Trump and keep the American people in line with their globalist agenda.

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Better Earth

Best of the Web: Full statement of the Kim-Moon DMZ summit: Peace, prosperity, unification!

Moon Jae-In and Kim Jong-un
The Korea Times
Fri, 27 Apr 2018 15:31 UTC
moon kim
© Host Broadcaster via Reuters / ReutersSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attend the inter-Korean summit at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea April 27, 2018.
During this momentous period of historical transformation on the Korean Peninsula, reflecting the enduring aspiration of the Korean people for peace, prosperity and unification, President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea held an Inter-Korean Summit Meeting at the 'Peace House' at Panmunjeom on April 27, 2018.

The two leaders solemnly declared before the 80 million Korean people and the whole world that there will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula and thus a new era of peace has begun.

The two leaders, sharing the firm commitment to bring a swift end to the Cold War relic of longstanding division and confrontation, to boldly approach a new era of national reconciliation, peace and prosperity, and to improve and cultivate inter-Korean relations in a more active manner, declared at this historic site of Panmunjeom as follows:

1. South and North Korea will reconnect the blood relations of the people and bring forward the future of co-prosperity and unification led by Koreans by facilitating comprehensive and groundbreaking advancement in inter-Korean relations. Improving and cultivating inter-Korean relations is the prevalent desire of the whole nation and the urgent calling of the times that cannot be held back any further.

Comment: See also: Kim is the first leader since 1953, when active hostilities on the Peninsula ended, to cross into South Korea. An historic day. He told Moon:
"I felt a flood of emotion as I walked the 200 meters here."

"I came here with a mindset that we will fire a flare at the starting point of a new history for peace and prosperity. Let's get everything off our minds out here and get good results."
kim moon
kim moon



Together with Moon, they planted a tree, a symbol of peace and prosperity, with soil from each country's mountains, and water from each of their rivers:
moon kim tree
© Reuters
moon kim tree
© Reuters
Kim expressed his eagerness to visit Seoul whenever invited, as well as the Blue House, South Korea's seat of government, for more talks. For his part, Moon said he would like to visit North Korea.
"I wish for it to be a chance for us to walk forward hand-in-hand while looking toward the future with a determination, instead of outcomes like those in the past that could not be implemented," Kim told Moon, as cited by Yonhap News Agency.

Moon chimed in, saying that he wishes they would strike an agreement and "create a great present for our people and everyone else in the world who wishes for peace."

Kim repeatedly said he pins high hopes on the summit, which he sees as a chance for reconciliation, "so that the scars between the South and the North could be healed."

In an apparent reference to a future reunification, which was the stated goal of both Koreas, Kim said, "the border line isn't that high" and "it will eventually be erased if a lot of people pass over it."
Not all Koreans are on the peace train, however. There are protests from South Korea's more radical segment of the population calling for bombing the North. Crazy people will always exist. Thankfully, Korea's leadership have their heads on straight.

Trump tweeted his approval:






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Info

Best of the Web: 'No attack, no chemical weapons': Douma witnesses speak out at OPCW briefing at The Hague


RT
Fri, 27 Apr 2018 13:58 UTC
OPCW Douma witness Syrians
Witnesses of the alleged chemical attack in Douma, including 11-year-old Hassan Diab and hospital staff, told reporters at The Hague that the White Helmets video used as a pretext for a US-led strike on Syria was, in fact, staged.

"We were at the basement and we heard people shouting that we needed to go to a hospital. We went through a tunnel. At the hospital they started pouring cold water on me," the boy told the press conference, gathered by Russia's mission at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.

Hassan was among the "victims" seen being washed by water hoses in a video released by the controversial White Helmets group on April 7. The boy and his family later spoke to the media and revealed that Hassan was hurried to the scene by men who claimed that a chemical attack had taken place. They started pouring cold water on the boy and others, filming the frightened children.

Comment: The OPCW also confirms no chemical weapons were used in Douma, yet the Intercept and the MSM maintain that these witnesses are part of a Russian 'conspiracy theory'. ABC News reports:
Russia ratcheted up its efforts Thursday to try to disprove that a Syrian town was hit by a poison gas attack, bringing a group of Syrians, including an 11-year-old boy, to the global chemical weapons watchdog's headquarters to denounce the reports as fake.

The U.S., Britain, France and their allies boycotted the event at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, branding it as "nothing more than a crude propaganda exercise" and an "obscene masquerade."
And the Intercept reports:
Over the objections of chemical weapons inspectors who are still at work in Syria, trying to determine if gas was used to kill dozens of civilians in the former rebel stronghold of Douma on April 7, Russia flew 17 Syrians from the war zone to The Hague on Thursday, where they all testified that they had seen no sign of a chemical attack.
No available reports confirm that the OPCW actually objected to witnesses speaking at the Hague. The Intercept also ignores the fact that the chemical weapons inspectors are only in Syria because they were invited by Russian and Syrian forces.

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Light Sabers

Best of the Web: 'Let us build a better world': Historic meeting between North and South Korea leaders kicks off


RT
Fri, 27 Apr 2018 09:56 UTC
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in
© Host Broadcaster via ReutersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, April 27, 2018
The much-awaited summit between Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in has begun in the "truce village" of Panmunjom. It is the first time the leaders of the two nations sat down for talks in over a decade.

The first inter-Korean summit since 2007, when Kim's late father Kim Il-sung met then-South Korean leader Roh Moo-hyun, is drawing all the eyes, coming ahead of the highly anticipated meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump.

North Korea's nuclear program, whose rapid advancement triggered belligerent threats from the US President, ramping up tensions in the peninsula to the boiling point in late 2017, is expected to dominate the Friday meeting, which is taking place less than a week after Pyongyang announced a freeze of all nuclear and missile exercises and a closure of a major test site.

The meeting is also of a high symbolic value. By crossing the South Korean border on foot to be greeted by Moon on the other side, Kim makes history, becoming the first North Korean leader to set foot on South Korean soil since the war between the two ended in 1953.


Comment: North Korea's leader further suggested that they hold regular summits:
"Let us meet more often. Let us build a better world," Im Jong-seok quoted Kim as saying at a briefing after the first round of talks ended in the border village of Panmunjom

According to Seoul, Kim told Moon that Pyongyang "won't interrupt your early morning sleep anymore," referring to missile tests.

Moon, in his turn, offered, among other things, to link the railroads of the two countries, the spokesman said.

He said the two countries continue working on a joint statement.

"Both sides decided to continue working discussions on drawing up a joint declaration. If the statement appears, it will be signed and jointly published by the two sides' leaders," the spokesman said.
Let's watch that historic moment one more time...



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Camera

Best of the Web: Evidence of a war crime: Wreckage of intercepted missiles in Syria catalogued and displayed by Russian govt


SouthFront
Thu, 26 Apr 2018 13:34 UTC
Missiles
Tomahawk (L). A screenshot from the video
One unexploded Tomahawk cruise missile and one high accuracy air-launched missile launched by the US and its allies on Syria on April 14 have been brought to Moscow, the chief of the Russian General Staff's main operations directorate Colonel-General Sergey Rudskoy said during a press briefing on April 25.
"Some of the missiles failed to reach the designated targets apparently due to technical failures, which created the risk of destroying civilian facilities and causing civilian casualties. Two of them, a cruise missile Tomahawk and a high-accuracy air-launched missile, have been brought to Moscow. You can see the Tomahawk's warhead in this slide," Colonel-General Rudskoy said.
The colonel-general added that Russian specialists are studying them.
"The results of this work will be used to improve Russian weapon systems," Rudskoy said.
us airstrikes syria
© Igor Ermachenkov / SputnikAlleged fragments of missiles fired by the US-led coalition on April 13-14 and shot down by the Syrian air defense forces, as shown by the Russian defense ministry.

Comment: See also: Russia receives two discovered American cruise missiles that did not explode from Syria

To account for the missile gap, the Pentagon claims 76 Tomahawks hit this one site:

Barzeh university campus, Damascus, Syria
Barzeh university campus, Damascus, Syria
As you can see, some of the structures at this relatively tiny target are still standing.

They're clearly blowing smoke.

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Heart - Black

Best of the Web: Boy clinging to his dead father won't become face of Yemen war for millions of Westerners (GRAPHIC)

Alexandre Antonov
RT
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:39 UTC
yemen boy dead father
© Ruptly
A harrowing image taken after the Saudi-led bombing of a wedding party in Yemen last Sunday showed a young boy clinging to his dead father's body. But it's a safe bet he won't become the face of the war in the mainstream media.

Photos and footage were taken after the bombing, which happened in a remote village in the northwestern province of Hajjah. Appearing to be aged seven or eight, the boy tightly grasps the body of a man, grabbing his shirt and repeating "no, no, no" as rescuers try to take him away. People on the ground told Ruptly the boy insisted his killed father was just sleeping, and would soon wake up and take him to their home village not far from the one that was bombed.

He most probably remained there for hours, judging by how some of the images were taken at night and some in the morning. A Ruptly cameraman said the father's body was the last one to be removed from the scene, and the boy stayed with it until the very end.


Comment: What a disgrace that the West has such double standards. They pretend to care about the well-being of Arabic children, but if those children are exterminated in Yemen then it is not on their radar.

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Bulb

Best of the Web: Russian MOD says OPCW confirms no chemical weapons at facility bombed by FUKUS


Sputnik
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 13:24 UTC
opcw
Last week, the fact-finding mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited a site in the Damascus suburb of Douma to collect samples in connection with the alleged April 7 chemical attack.

Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy has announced that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had confirmed that there were no chemical weapons found at the Barzeh research center in Damascus despite the US officials' claims.

The official further noted that thousands of people could have died if there was any chemical weapon on the sites that were attacked by the US-led coalition.

"Immediately after the attacks, many people who worked at these destroyed facilities and just bystanders without any protective equipment visited them. None of them got poisoned with toxic agents," Rudskoy said.

He said the logic of strikes on alleged facilities with toxic agents in Syria was unclear, because if toxic agents had theoretically been stored there, tens of thousands of people would have died after the cruise missile strikes.

Comment: If the U.S. media bothered to actually read or undertake even cursory research, they'd know that the OPCW inspected the Barzeh site in November 2017 and found nothing. And if the U.S. media could use their vision and their ability to count to ten, they would have been able to confirm for themselves Rudskoy's counts of successful missiles, as SOTT's Joe Quinn did immediately after the attack: Just for comparison, we estimated 9 hits on Barzeh, 5 on Han Shinshar, and 1 on storage facility. The Russians counted 13, 7, and 2.

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