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Secret US Commandos forced to leave Libya after being revealed in Facebook post

US air force
© Sputnik/ Vladimir Pirogov
A group of US commandos, whose secret mission to Libya was revealed after several pictures of them were posted on the Libyan Air Forces Facebook page, were forced to leave the country.

"A group of US commandos who landed in Libya on Monday were ordered to leave almost immediately because of a possible mix-up between the Libyan air force and army," the US media quotes US and Libyan officials as saying on Thursday.

The decision came after four pictures of about 20 US Special Operations Forces servicemen, arriving at Libya's Wattiya airbase, have been posted on the Facebook page of the Libyan Air Forces.

Rocket

What ceasefire? Two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen at Saudi Arabia

Yemen conflict
© Mohamed Al-Sayaghi / Reuters
Saudi Arabian air defense has intercepted one of two ballistic missiles fired from the territory of Yemen, according to AFP. The second ballistic missile landed in a desert area east of the Saudi city of Najran, the Saudi-led coalition said in a statement.

No injuries have been reported so far.

Earlier this week, several Saudi targets in Yemen were said to have come under the rebels' fire. At least three Qahir-1 rockets were used to shell various bases and camps, according to Al Manar.

The attack comes as a UN-negotiated ceasefire announced in Yemen on Tuesday is being violated by all parties, putting an ongoing peace negotiation in Switzerland in jeopardy.

Attention

With friends like the USA, who needs enemies? Over 30 Iraqi soldiers killed and 20 injured in US Air Force strike

Iraq exposion
© AP
At least 30 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 20 others injured in US air strike, Hakim al-Zamili, the head of Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee said.

"Thirty soldiers from the Iraqi Army's 55 brigade were killed and 20 were injured in a US airstrike on the town of al-Naimiya in the al-Fallujah province," al-Zamili's statement obtained by Sputnik reads.

The politician stated that he demanded "the [Iraqi] prime minister to conduct an investigation into the airstrike against the 55 brigade, which had previously had huge success in the fight against Daesh terrorists."

Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) is a Sunni radical group in control of vast territories in Iraq and Syria. A number of ISIL cells, with local insurgent groups pledging allegiance, are also known to operate in Libya, Yemen and other territories across the Middle East and North Africa.

Comment: Of course the Pentagon denies the claim:
Claims of a US airstrike killing more than 30 Iraqi soldiers are not accurate, US Defense Department spokesman Maj. Roger Cabiness told Sputnik on Friday.

"This is not true," Cabiness said when asked to confirm reports of the incident.



Георгиевская ленточка

Why the West can never "forgive" or defeat Russia

Russian fire

Historically and intuitively, Russia has fought for the survival of humanity. Of course, things are not always pronounced or defined in such terms. However, already on several occasions, this enormous country has stood up against the most mighty and evil forces that have threatened the very survival of our Planet.

During the Second World War, the Soviet people, mainly Russians, sacrificed at least 25 million men, women and children, in the end defeating Nazism. No other country in modern history has undergone more.

Right after that victory, Russia, alongside China and later Cuba, embarked on the most awesome and noble project of all times: the systematic dismantling of Western colonialism. All over the world oppressed masses stood up against European and North American imperialist barbarity, and it was the Soviet Union that was ready to give them a beacon of hope, as well as substantial financial, ideological and military support.

Comment: Thank you, Andre Vltchek, for putting into words that which is almost ineffable about Russia and her people's qualities. Mystics have perceived similar things about this nation:
Cayce foresaw that future world crises would hinge on finance, and he pointed to Russia as being the thorn in the side of the financial powers that were organizing themselves against the good of humanity in a post WWII world.

When asked in 1932 about political and economic trends in Europe Cayce zeroed in on Russia:
Europe is as a house broken up. Some years ago there was the experience of a mighty peoples being overridden for the gratification and satisfaction of a few, irrespective of any other man's right. That peoples are going through the experience of being born again, and is the thorn in the flesh to many a political and financial nation in Europe, in the world... Q. What is the name of that nation referred to? A. Russia! (3976-8)" [Source]
70 years after the defeat of the Axis powers, Russia has been reborn, but the rest of the world is now largely under the thumb of the Western globalist banking cartel. This cartel is organized as the IMF, the World Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, and the global network of central banks, reserve banks, development banks, and investment banks that hold the world's elected governments in perpetual receivership and the world's people in bondage to mathematically impossible to pay debt.

[...]

In 2013 the US was attempting to invade Syria under obviously false pretenses. Putin prevented US involvement by threatening to intervene militarily in a conflict that at that time had not yet devolved unto the horrid conditions we see today.

With the deliberate destruction of Ukraine by the George Soros funded color-revolution destabilization team then the advances of the IMF to debt-conquer Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in forced development loans, Putin's Russia emerged as the singular force capable of checking the banking cabal's global advance, and is refusing to allow Ukraine and Crimea to fall into the hands of Western backed forces.

The grand chessboard that is the Middle East is ablaze, and the world is on a razor's edge, caught between the very real possibility of escalation to third world war and the seemingly distant hope of world leaders suddenly finding sanity and de-escalating the situation.

Cayce spoke of Russia's role as being the 'hope of the world' in a coming time such as this:
"In Russia there comes the hope of the world, not as that sometimes termed of the communistic, or Bolshevik, no; but freedom, freedom! That each man will live for his fellow man! The principle has been born. It will take years for it to be crystallised, but out of Russia comes again the hope of the world."
(Edgar Cayce, 1944, No. 3976-29)



Play

South Front: Syria, Iraq and Yemen war journals

south front
International Military Review - Syria (Dec. 17)


Comment: South Front needs your support. For more info, see their videos here and here.


TV

Good riddance! The decline and fall of 'mainstream' media

Mainstream media fail
© Independent, Australia
The "mainstream" media is a potent issue this election year, and Donald Trump has surely turned the public's distrust of the Fourth Estate into electoral gold. Regardless of what one thinks of Trump himself, his ability to turn a media pile-on into an asset has got to make one wonder what is it about the journalistic profession, circa 2015, that inspires such antipathy.

Perhaps it's what they don't report that's responsible for the general disdain in which they are held. Take, for example, this piece in the New York Times on Tashfeen Malik's previously unreported Facebook postings, by Matt Apuzzo, Michael S. Schmidt, and Julia Preston. The first paragraphs read:
"Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband carried out the massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., passed three background checks by American immigration officials as she moved to the United States from Pakistan. None uncovered what Ms. Malik had made little effort to hide - that she talked openly on social media about her views on violent jihad.

"She said she supported it. And she said she wanted to be a part of it.

"American law enforcement officials said they recently discovered those old - and previously unreported - postings as they pieced together the lives of Ms. Malik and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, trying to understand how they pulled off the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001."
Okay, but what did she actually say - and where did she say it? The Times stays mum on this, but we do get some information on her sister, Fehda Malik, some twenty-three paragraphs later, second from the bottom:
"On social media, Fehda Malik has made provocative comments of her own. In 2011, on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, she posted a remark on Facebook beside a photo of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center that could be interpreted as anti-American."
Everything must be viewed through the peculiar prism of a New York Times reporter: no direct quotes allowed - unless it's from an anonymous government official pushing his or her agenda. The rest of the article cites government officials offering lame excuses for why they didn't bother checking Tashfeen Malik's social media postings - essentially, it's too much bother.

Comment: See also:


Blackbox

What the heck? U.S. calls on Turkey to remove troops from Iraq, Kerry says Assad doesn't have to go

Putin Kerry
© AFP
It has been a strange two days for US foreign policy.

Earlier today we reported that in what amounts to a significant blow to the official US position over Syria, namely the multi-year demands to replace president Assad with a western puppet ruler, John Kerry on Tuesday accepted Russia's long-standing demand that President Bashar Assad's future be determined by his own people, as Washington and Moscow edged toward putting aside years of disagreement over how to end Syria's civil war."
"The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," Kerry said, adding that the focus is no longer "on our differences about what can or cannot be done immediately about Assad."

In a testament to the fact that mainstream media is beginning to understand just how weak America's negotiating position has become, AP offered the following rather sarcastic assessment: "President Barack Obama first called on Assad to leave power in the summer of 2011, with "Assad must go" being a consistent rallying cry. Later, American officials allowed that he wouldn't have to resign on "Day One" of a transition. Now, no one can say when Assad might step down."

Kerry also called demands by the "moderate" opposition that Assad step down before peace negotiations begin an "obvious nonstarter."
All of the above, some may say, makes the US presence in Syria, whether through CIA covert ops, commandos, or even the Islamic State, moot: after all, if the US has folded on an Assad regime change, then there is no longer any point in continuing the proxy war, which revolves around one key issue: regime change in Syria.


Comment: Consider that just one month ago, the U.S. was singing an entirely different tune: Obama Says Syrian Leader Bashar al-Assad Must Go. The folks at Hot Air put it nicely: "Obama wants regime change. Putin doesn't want regime change. Regime change canceled."


Comment: So, Kerry (with a morose Nuland) flies to Russia for important talks with Lavrov and Putin. Now this... And this: And this:
  • UN Security Council passes joint US-Russia resolution targeting ISIS funding
What, are the U.S. and Russia best buds now? Even the IMF is changing its tune. First, they change their rules in order to benefit Ukraine, and now: Just what the heck did Putin tell Kerry?! Mike Whitney has some interesting speculation on that:


Take 2

UN Security Council passes joint US-Russia resolution targeting ISIS funding

UN HQ
© Mike Segar / Reuters
U.N. headquarters in New York, December 17, 2015
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution strengthening legal measures against those doing business with terrorist groups. It targets mainly Islamic State militants (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

The resolution is the result of a joint effort by Russia and the US, which are both leading anti-IS campaigns in Syria.


Comment: It's strange to see the US and Russia working together to fight ISIS. So we have this new resolution, on top of Kerry admitting Assad's future will be determined by the Syrian people, the US pulling 12 fighter jets from the Incirlik base in Turkey, and in a dramatic reversal of the NATO narrative on Turkey's invasion of Iraq, Vice President Biden calling on Turkey to withdraw from Iraq. It was only a month ago that Obama said Assad must go, and just a few days ago the State Dept. was dodging questions from RT about Turkish troops in Iraq. As some have put it, it's been a strange few days in US foreign policy. One has to wonder if it wasn't something Putin said during his meeting with Kerry that has led to practically a 180 degree reversal by the US in certain foreign policy decisions. Perhaps he made it abundantly clear that moving forward with the US's previous policy would mean war with Russia, and just how outmatched the US was for such a possibility.


It stems from a UNSC action taken in February against illegal trafficking of antiquities from Syria, which threatened sanctions on anyone buying oil from IS or the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front and urged that kidnap ransoms not be paid.

Before the Council meeting on Thursday, Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin told reporters that one of the main objectives of the new resolution is to "circle IS as a separate, most vital terrorist threat."

War Whore

Poroshenko first to congratulate Pope Francis on 80th birthday, except he turned 79

Pope Francis
© Stefano Rellandini / Reuters
Petro Poroshenko published a heartfelt message to Pope Francis on his official website, wishing him a happy 80th birthday. Unfortunately the message went out a year too early as the pontiff has just turned 79.

"Your Holiness, on behalf of the Ukrainian people and myself, I heartily congratulate you on your 80th anniversary. I wish you good health, spiritual inspiration and God's blessing in the discharge of your incredibly important mission," the message read.

The media promptly reacted by taking numerous screen shots of Poroshenko's mistake, which was quickly erased from the website, with the open letter now stating the correct age, 79. No comment has been made so far from the Ukrainian president's office.

Pope Francis was born on December 17, 1936. He has won the hearts of Catholics and non-believers alike for his humble and humane attitude.

Comment: It's understandable that Poroshenko would make that mistake, what with all the killing of civilians and demonizing Russia on his schedule every day. He's a busy guy, he can't be expected to keep up with everything!


Light Sabers

EU may require visas for US nationals if Washington implements visa waiver reforms

border patrol
© Fred Greaves / Reuters
The EU says it may retaliate if the US goes ahead with plans to impose visas for some members of the bloc who are currently part of the Visa Waiver Program. Brussels says it will not increase security and that US nationals may require visas to enter the EU.

A letter signed by 28 European member state ambassadors to the US was published in The Hill after Europe reacted furiously and with disbelief to plans by Washington to tighten-up the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which currently lets millions of citizens from the bloc travel to the US each year without a visa.

Last week, the US House of Representatives adopted a bill to reform the visa program that would ban certain EU nationals from entering the US without a visa if they had visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan after March 2011. Some US politicians want the legislation introduced to tighten security following the November 13 Paris terror attacks.

"A blanket restriction on those who have visited Syria or Iraq, for example, would most likely only affect legitimate travel by businesspeople, journalists, humanitarian or medical workers while doing little to detect those who travel by more clandestine means overland," the letter signed by the 28 ambassadors stated.


Comment: US politicians rarely have much foresight when conjuring up "security" bills, as they are more concerned with PR and trying to get re-elected than the practical application of such a bill. That's pretty much the story of the entire "war on terror."