Puppet MastersS


Bomb

Syria: Arms and ammo seized enroute to terrorists in Daraa province, made in USA and Israel

H. Said
Global Research
Sun, 14 Feb 2016 00:00 UTC
weapons 1
© www.globalresearch.ca
The authorities concerned in Sweida, in cooperation with the locals, seized on Sunday a vehicle loaded with large amounts of arms and ammunition in the western countryside of the southern province.

arms
© www.globalresearch.ca
A source at Sweida Governorate told SANA that the vehicle was heading to the terrorist organizations operating in the eastern countryside of the neighboring Daraa province.

The arms and ammunition which were confiscated included 7 Israeli-made anti-tank rocket
weapons
© www.globalresearch.ca
launchers, 62 shells, 128 RPG shells of different kinds, 43 120 mm mortar rounds, 42 82 mm mortar rounds and 100 23 mm machinegun bullets.

Earlier on Saturday, the authorities, in cooperation with the popular committees, seized hundreds of U.S. and Israeli-made anti-tank mines loaded in a pickup in the western countryside of Sweida. The weapons were bound for the terrorists in eastern al-Badiya (desert).

On January 20th, the authorities in Sweida foiled an operation to smuggle a large quantity of ammunition for medium-sized and heavy weapons from eastern Daraa to terrorist organizations in al-Badiya

Comment: Just a sampling of many US/Israeli contributions to the War on Terrorism.

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Star of David

Criminalizing conscience and personal choice: UK to ban public bodies from boycotting Israeli West Bank goods


RT
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:18 UTC
UK israel west bank boycott
© Baz Ratner / ReutersUK Gov: You can't choose not to buy criminally produced products.
Britain's Conservative government is to announce next week a law that would ban local councils, student unions and other public bodies form boycotting goods for political reasons. The rules are widely seen as meant to protect goods produced by Israeli companies in the occupied West Bank.

The plan to introduce such legislation was first proposed by the Conservative Party at its annual conference in October 2015. Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock is to formally announce the new regulation during his visit to Israel next week, The Independent reported.

The rules would ban institutions that receive the majority of their funding from the government from participating in procurement political campaigns, choosing not to buy products from companies on political grounds. The only exception would be nationwide boycotts mandated by the government.

London also wants to change the rules for pension investments so that they could not be used for punishing companies for political reasons.

Comment: One criminal organization protecting another.

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Road Cone

Tit-for-tat: Russia freezes transit of all Ukrainian trucks


ITAR-TASS
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:15 UTC
Transport truck in Ukraine
© Anton Vergun/TASS
Russia is imposing a total freeze on the movement of all cargo vehicles registered in Ukraine through its territory, the ministry of transport has said. The suspension is effective as of today.

"In connection with the further boycott of Russian cargo transport vehicles in the territory of Ukraine the movement of Ukrainian cargo vehicles carrying out transit transportation of cargoes is fully suspended in Russian territory starting from 12:00 Moscow time of February 16, 2016," the news release runs.
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Jet3

Saying hello: Russian jets shadow German Tornados in Syria


RT
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 14:06 UTC
German air force Tornado jet
© Fabian Bimmer / Reuters
Russian fighter jets permanently monitor Luftwaffe Tornados performing reconnaissance missions in Syrian airspace, Germany's flying operations center commander told the media. Both sides act professionally and prevent incidents, he added.

Russian pilots take no aggressive actions towards their German colleagues, such as intercepting them or attempting to force them out of the operations area, Joachim Wundrak told Rheinische Post daily.

"Those encounters go on professionally, no incidents have been registered," said the Luftwaffe Lieutenant General, who has just returned from anti-Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) coalition's coordination center in Qatar.
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Chart Pie

Russia and Saudi Arabia agree to freeze oil production output at record levels


RT
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:52 UTC
Oil barrels
© Beawiharta / Reuters
The world's two biggest crude producers won't increase oil output. Besides Russia and Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela agreed to freeze production at January levels, according to Russia's Energy Ministry.

"The deal will be reached if other producers join the initiative," said Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak.

OPEC members Venezuela and Nigeria had called for a meeting to discuss crude prices that have fallen over 70 percent since 2014.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said freezing output at January levels would be "adequate" however the country still wants to meet the demand of its customers.

Comment: Iran is a sticking point as they don't want to freeze or cut oil production:
OPEC member Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional arch rival, has pledged to steeply increase output in the coming months as it looks to regain market share lost after years of international sanctions, which were lifted in January following a deal with world powers over its nuclear program.

"Our situation is totally different to those countries that have been producing at high levels for the past few years," a senior source familiar with Iran's thinking told Reuters.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh also indicated Tehran would not agree to freezing its output at January levels, saying the country would not give up its appropriate share of the global oil market.


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Bullseye

Iran aims to spend $8bn on Russian military hardware


RT
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 11:19 UTC
S-400
© Ruslan Krivobok / Sputnik S-400 Triumf missiles.
Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan is on a two-day visit to Moscow to sign an $8 billion arms contract to buy Russian military hardware, business daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday. Tehran has already handed Moscow a shopping list and Dehghan's visit should speed up a number of key arms deals, according to the newspaper's sources. The Interfax news agency says special emphasis will be placed on the signing of new arms deals, not on the fulfillment of existing contracts such as the delivery of anti-aircraft missile systems.

"Iran would like to buy Russia's latest S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system, developed by Almaz-Antey. And they make no secret of it. On the eve of his visit to Moscow Dehghan openly said to Iranian media they want to purchase the S-400s," the source said. Iran needs to "seriously focus on its air force and fighter jets," said Dehghan prior his visit to Moscow. "We are moving toward a contract. We told them that we need to be involved in the production (of the plane) as well," he added.

According to Interfax's source, the second important topic of the talks is Tehran's possible procurement, or even a licensed production of the new Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM multi-role fighter. Iran is also interested in Russia's Bastion mobile coastal defense missile system, equipped with supersonic Yakhont anti-ship missiles, along with Mi-8/17 helicopters and other arms.

Comment: In 2015 Iran and Russia agreed to establish a joint bank. Last week Iran dumped the dollar and switched to euros in foreign oil trade. The two countries were signing nuclear construction deals. After the Putin-Khamenei meeting in 2007, it seems that Iran indeed pondered Putin's proposal and decided to counter NATO eastwards expansion.
See also:

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Bad Guys

Turkey is bombing the most effective anti-Daesh rebel group in Syria, with Washington's tacit approval

Marko Marjanović
Russia Insider
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 05:43 UTC
Turkey shelling Syria
© Stringer / Reuters
Wait a minute. What's going over there in the land of Syria? Haven't we for 5 months been hearing American officials, ideologues and media incessantly howl about how Russia, instead of fighting ISIS in Syria, is actually pouncing on moderate Syrian rebels, including groups that "have in the past proved to be efficient against Isis"?

Well it so happens that the biggest rebel coalition in Syria by far is the Syrian Democratic Forces which is composed of the Kurdish YPG and its minor Arab and Syriac/Assyrian proxies, like the (very rebelliously-named) Army of Revolutionaries.

It also happens this coalition unlike the jihadis in the Army of Conquest, Army of Islam and Ansar al-Sharia that Russia has been pounding actually has a claim to being 'moderate' seeing how the YPG is ideologically speaking basically the Syrian wing of the PKK - the secular, left-wing nationalist guerilla army of Turkish Kurds.

Comment: Further reading:

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Bad Guys

What US Congress researchers can tell us about Washington's plans for Syria

Stephen Gowans
what's left
Tue, 09 Feb 2016 13:33 UTC
US and Syrian flags
Documents prepared by US Congress researchers as early as 2005 revealed that the US government was actively weighing regime change in Syria long before the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, challenging the view that US support for the Syrian rebels is based on allegiance to a "democratic uprising" and showing that it is simply an extension of a long-standing policy of seeking to topple the government in Damascus. Indeed, the researchers made clear that the US government's motivation to overthrow the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is unrelated to democracy promotion in the Middle East. In point of fact, they noted that Washington's preference is for secular dictatorships (Egypt) and monarchies (Jordan and Saudi Arabia.) [1] The impetus for pursuing regime change, according to the researchers, was a desire to sweep away an impediment to the achievement of US goals in the Middle East related to strengthening Israel, consolidating US domination of Iraq, and fostering free-market, free enterprise economies. Democracy was never a consideration.

The researchers revealed further that an invasion of Syria by US forces was contemplated following the US-led aggression against Iraq in 2003, but that the unanticipated heavy burden of pacifying Iraq militated against an additional expenditure of blood and treasure in Syria. [2] As an alternative to direct military intervention to topple the Syrian government, the United States chose to pressure Damascus through sanctions and support for the internal Syrian opposition.

The documents also revealed that nearly a decade before the rise of Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra that the US government recognized that Islamic fundamentalists were the main opposition to the secular Assad government and worried about the re-emergence of an Islamist insurgency that could lead Sunni fundamentalists to power in Damascus. A more recent document from the Congress's researchers describes a US strategy that seeks to eclipse an Islamist take-over by forcing a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Syria in which the policing, military, judicial and administrative functions of the Syrian state are preserved, while Assad and his fellow Arab nationalists are forced to leave office. The likelihood is that if this scenario plays out that Assad and his colleagues will be replaced by biddable US surrogates willing to facilitate the achievement of US goals.

Comment: The US is trying to force the Assad government to relinquish control of the country by any means necessary. No matter how deplorable, vile, destructive or morally unconscionable those means may be. Whatever it takes to further the American-Israeli Empire's dream of total world domination.

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Attention

Russian PM: Expect a "permanent world war" if Saudis invade Syria

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Thu, 11 Feb 2016 19:31 UTC
boots
© www.gdnonline.comIran mocks. Ground troops to Syria, maybe? If asked?
"It's a joke. We couldn't wish [for] more than that. If they can do it, then let them do it — but talking militarily, this is not easy for a country already facing defeat in another war, in Yemen, where after almost one year they have failed in achieving any real victory." That's what one source in the Iranian military had to say about reports that Saudi Arabia is preparing to send ground troops into Syria.

If you frequent these pages you know why Riyadh (and Ankara for that matter) is considering the ground option. The effort to oust Bashar al-Assad and the Alawite government was going reasonably well right up until September. Sure, the conflict was dragging into its fifth year, but Assad's army was on the ropes and absent a miracle, it seemed likely that his government would fall.

As it turns out, Assad did indeed get a miracle from above although instead of divine intervention it was Russian airstrikes which commenced from Latakia starting on September 30. Contrary to The White House's prediction that Putin would find himself in a "quagmire," Russia and Hezbollah have rolled up the opposition and are preparing to recapture Aleppo, the country's largest city and a major commercial hub. If that happens, the rebellion is over.
Aleppo map
© Institute Study of War

Comment: Clearly Iran doesn't think the Saudis have it in them to go through with the plan to invade Syria and it would be suicide to do so. Iran sides with Russia. Also, any contingency from Turkey would be doubly suspect with its vendetta against the Kurds (now siding with Russia). And, Assad's home boys are looking and feeling pretty great having made a turn-around in the north. Russia sides with them. We know Russia isn't going home any time soon...so there are mighty big reasons to rethink this plan.

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Info

Further destabilization in Arab world as possible consequence of Turkey-Qatar military cooperation

Martin Berger
New Eastern Outlook
Mon, 15 Feb 2016 02:15 UTC
Turkish military
A short while ago Turkey and Qatar announced that they have an agreement in place to further deepen their military cooperation within the framework of the "struggle against common enemies", which implies the construction of two new military bases: a Turkish one in Qatar and a Qatari base in Turkey.

As it was made clear by the Turkish Ambassador to Qatar, Ahmet Demirok, Ankara is planning to construct a multi-purpose military installation that will become home to some 3,000 soldiers. By taking this step Turkey expects to become a state that is directly influencing security in the Persian Gulf. In the future, this base will also provide Turkish armed forces with an outpost for operations in the Red Sea, North Africa, along with the access to the waters of the Pacific, which Turkey lost back in 1950.
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