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Russian airstrikes helped Syria liberate 20 residential areas from ISIS control


RT
Tue, 29 Dec 2015 16:42 UTC
russian jet
© Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation / Sputnik
The Russian Air Force has helped the Syrian Democratic Forces liberate 20 residential areas from Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) around the city of Raqqa, the extremist groups' stronghold, a Russian military spokesman said.

Assisted by Russian air support, the Syrian Democratic Forces have made significant progress in IS-controlled areas in Syria, according to the head of the Russian General Staff's operations department, Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy.

"The troops of the Syrian Democratic Forces, commanded by Ayman Flyat el-Ganim, with the support of the Russian Air Force, conducted an offensive toward the ISIS capital, Raqqa. As a result of this offensive, approximately 20 residential areas were liberated from extremists. Strategic control was established over the important dam on the river Euphrates at al-Ahmar," Rudskoy said at a press conference in Moscow.

An opposition rebel group, the Syrian Democratic Forces, was established in October of 2015 that unites Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, and Turkmen militias.

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War Whore

Revolution to destruction: The fall of the Arab Spring

Christopher L. Brennan
Global Research
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 00:00 UTC
arab spring
From Libya and Egypt to Syria and Yemen, the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region is undergoing unprecedented tumult and chaos. To understand the current breakdown of states and society, examining the so-called Arab Spring of 2011 that laid the groundwork for this ongoing regional anarchy is indispensable.

From 2011 to around early 2014, the so-called "Arab Spring" encompassing the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region came to the forefront of international political affairs. In the words of Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, it was "frequently referred to as the most remarkable episode in the international life of the new 21st century." The authoritarian regimes of the Arab world have been fragile systems. This is especially true more recently in their relationship with burgeoning youthful populations. Arab historian Said K. Aburish argues that these various regimes all lack modern political legitimacy—from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to Egypt, from military cliques to monarchies. [1]

This lack of modern political legitimacy—coupled with decades of political repression, world economic crises, and unresolved grievances such as the unmitigated oppression of the Palestinian people—creates potential for massive political awakening. This dynamic was particularly pronounced because of the region's marked demographic 'youth bulge.' Historically, youth cohorts are receptive to new ideas, eager to challenge the status quo, and active in times of political crisis. Indeed, it was the age 25 and under demographic that spearheaded the MENA mass protests. Using what is referred to as 'civilian-based power,' Western powers exploited and guided this massive potential for political awakening to advance Western and Israeli geopolitical imperatives. These eruptions were followed closely by covert and overt military intervention.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Israel pressures Brazil to accept (illegal) settler ambassador - warns of 'deteriorating relations' otherwise


RT
Mon, 28 Dec 2015 00:59 UTC
illegal settlement Israel west bank
© Ammar Awad / Reuters
A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim
Israel has warned Brazil that relations will deteriorate unless it accepts the former Israeli head of the West Bank settlement program as ambassador. The appointment was made four months ago and has still not been approved by Brazil's government.

The country has continuously failed to give in to diplomatic pressure, leading Israel to up the stakes and issue threats.

Brazilian refusals have gone on since August, when the political appointment was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The main sticking point for Brazilian opposition to the appointment is the fact that Dani Dayan - the nominee - lives in the occupied West Bank, as well as being the former head of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria.

Like most of the international community, Brazil's leftist government believes the building of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land to be illegal. But condemnation at all levels has not resulted in any action on the part of Israel.

Reda Mansour, Israel's previous ambassador, left Brasilia last week, and now the Israelis are warning that if Dayan does not replace him, there will be consequences for bilateral relations.

Comment: Kudos to Brazil for standing firmly on principle against the Israeli government's manipulations. Perhaps other countries will be willing to follow her lead in isolating the 'mad dog'.

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Blackbox

Did McCain really meet with ISIS leader al-Baghdadi?


Global Research
Mon, 28 Dec 2015 22:41 UTC
mccain
The visit took place on May 27, 2013.

According to news reports:
Arizona Senator McCain crossed into Syria form Turkey with General Salem Idris, who leads the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, and stayed there for several hours before returning back.

The senator met with assembled leaders of Free Syrian Army units in both Turkey and Syria.
According to AP, McCain crossed the border near Kilis, Turkey, and spent two hours meeting with 'rebel leaders' near Idlib, Syria. The article further states that McCain made the trip in order to demand "aggressive military action in the 2-year-old Syrian civil war, calling for the establishment of a no-fly zone and arming the rebels".
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Evil Rays

Dead terrorist Alloush mourned by Al Qaeda and Human Rights Watch


Moon of Alabama
Sun, 27 Dec 2015 22:23 UTC
ken roth meme

Almost-satire of Ken Roth's twitter antics.
Just some recent new items on Syria/Iraq:

The killed ruthless terrorist and sectarian Salafist insurgent leader Zahran Alloush was mourned by the Turkey-backed Syrian Islamic Council, the U.S. backed FSA and affiliates, by Riad Hijab the former Syrian Prime Minister who defected and who now heads the Saudi-formed opposition body, by the terrorist groups Ahrar al Sham, Jabhat al Nusra/al-Qaeda and by the head of Human Rights Watch who gets payed $450,000 per year for such valuable (for some rich people) service:
Kenneth Roth Verified account @KenRoth
Killing Zahran Alloush is part of Assad strategy of trying to reduce choice to him or ISIS.
So, according to Kenneth Roth, Zahran Alloush who lauded Osama bin Laden, shelled civilians in Damascus and put Alawite women into cages as human shields, was a potentially valid "choice" for the Syrian people?

Comment: This is rich. Ken Roth just can't help repeatedly exposing himself as a terrorist supporter.

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Георгиевская ленточка

Russian quagmire in Syria? Not so much


Moon of Alabama
Mon, 28 Dec 2015 22:33 UTC
putin medvedev

Quagmire in Syria? LOL.
Recent "Official Washington" headlines: The above was all nonsense and propaganda. It represented the typical self-delusion of the Washington establishment. The Russian government and military knew exactly what they were doing. After some 100 days of Russian military support for the Syrian government the results are coming in. They look good. The Islamic State lost most of its oil income and is reduced in its capabilities. The Syrian army and its allies are progressing against they various enemies on several fronts. The costs of Russia's expedition are relatively small.
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Bomb

The neocons are edging the world closer to WWIII

Paul Craig Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts Org
Mon, 28 Dec 2015 22:11 UTC
Nuclear Explosion
© WallpaperCave
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 gave birth to a dangerous American ideology called neoconservativism. The Soviet Union had served as a constraint on US unilateral action. With the removal of this constraint on Washington, neoconservatives declared their agenda of US world hegemony. America was now the "sole superpower," the "unipower," that could act without restraint anywhere in the world.

The Washington Post neoconservative journalist Charles Krauthammer summed up the "new reality" as follows:
"We have overwheming global power. We are history's designated custodians of the international system. When the Soviet Union fell, something new was born, something utterly new - a unipolar world dominated by a single superpower unchecked by any rival and with decisive reach in every corner of the globe. This is a stagering new development in history, not seen since the fall of Rome. Even Rome was no model for what America is today."
The staggering unipolar power that history has given to Washington has to be protected at all costs. In 1992 top Pentagon official Undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz penned the Wolfowitz Doctrine, which became the basis for Washington's foreign policy.

The Wolfowitz Doctrine states that the "first objective" of American foreign and military policy is "to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat [to US unilateral action] on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union. This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power." (A "hostile power" is a country sufficiently strong to have a foreign policy independent from Washington's.)
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Jet5

Enter the dragon? China's first anti-terrorism law permits use of Chinese Army in anti-terror operations abroad


Sputnik
Mon, 28 Dec 2015 21:58 UTC
china army

The Chinese army: rather large
China's legislature passed the country's first anti-terrorism law on Sunday, making it legal for the People's Liberation Army to take part in counter-terrorism missions abroad.

China has approved the law at a critical time for the country and for the world at large: terrorist attacks in Paris, the bombing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt, and the rise of Daesh (Islamic State) are all pointing to the ever-growing threat of terrorism.

According to China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang, the new law is an important part in creating systemic rules for national security.

The law will take into effect basic principles for counter-terrorism work and in order to strengthen measures of prevention and punishment the departments may collaborate with overseas governments and international organizations in holding policy dialogues, communicating on intelligence information, enforcing the law and regulating international capitals.
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USA

What's in store for America in 2016?

John W. Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute
Mon, 28 Dec 2015 18:43 UTC
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."—George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Vol. 1
Groundhog Day

Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day
In Harold Ramis' classic 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, TV weatherman Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) is forced to live the same day over and over again until he not only gains some insight into his life but changes his priorities. Similarly, as I illustrate in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we in the emerging American police state find ourselves reliving the same set of circumstances over and over again—egregious surveillance, strip searches, police shootings of unarmed citizens, government spying, the criminalization of lawful activities, warmongering, etc.—although with far fewer moments of comic hilarity.

What remains to be seen is whether 2016 will bring more of the same or whether "we the people" will wake up from our somnambulant states. Indeed, when it comes to civil liberties and freedom, 2015 was far from a banner year.

The following is just a sampling of what we can look forward to repeating if we don't find some way to push back against the menace of an overreaching, aggressive, invasive, militarized surveillance state.
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Yoda

Russia inspires other countries to actually fight terrorism


RT
Mon, 28 Dec 2015 16:24 UTC
russian jet
The successful operations of the Russian Air Force against international terrorism in Syria have prompted other states to apply more effort in this direction, upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said in a recent press interview.
"Russia has convincingly demonstrated its military and political leadership in this war which is important for all humanity. And this has caused other nations to become more active on the anti-terrorist front," Matviyenko told the Parlamentskaya Gazeta newspaper.
The top senator added that the Russian authorities had decided to move to the front line of the anti-terrorist struggle for a valid reason. "We have been waging this war since the mid-1990s. We paid for our experience with hundreds of lives, and as a result we know that terrorism is a terrible threat," she noted.

She added that the current air force operation in Syria is being conducted to ensure the security of the Russian Federation and its citizens, but at the same time is protecting the lives of all people on Earth and the security of the human civilization itself.
"International terrorism can be defeated only through the joint efforts of the whole international community," Matviyenko concluded.
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