INTERNATIONAL MILITARY REVIEW - SYRIA (DEC. 25)

Two years after British Prime Minister David Cameron declared "mission accomplished" in Afghanistan, the war-torn nation is standing besieged by the Taliban, its military faced-down on the floor as terror has returned with a vengeance. It was December 2013 - In a surprise visit to Camp Bastion base PM Cameron told the world his countrymen successfully fulfilled their military mandate in Afghanistan, and were coming home.

"I think they [the troops] can come home with their heads held high ... To me, the absolute driving part of the mission is a basic level of security so it doesn't become a haven for terror. That is the mission, that was the mission and I think we will have accomplished that mission and so our troops can be very proud of what they have done."

It is now December 2015 and the Taliban is hounding Afghan security forces, threatening with one smooth swoop to disintegrate whatever military resistance Kabul has mustered to throw at terror's army. If already back in 2013 British officials viewed the prime minister's statement as grossly premature, recent developments underscored what many have already labelled as Britain's criminal oversight. With a symmetry which would be ironic if not so tragic, the warning Conservative MP John Baron voiced in 2013 came to pass exactly in the fashion he described - if only someone had listened.

Fighters from the Daesh and the al-Nusra Front have begun giving up heavy weapons to the Syrian army south of the Arab republic's capital of Damascus, a military source said Friday.

The source said engineer troops arrived with UN representatives near the Yarmouk Camp in southern Damascus on Thursday to accept heavy weapons from the militants.

"The militants who have given up their weapons will be taken toward Beer al-Qasab, an eastern suburb of Damascus, with their families," the military source told RIA Novosti.

In recent weeks there has been a wave of violence against Muslim-Americans. Spurred by the heated rhetoric of conservative politicians, many confused people have begun to think that those who practice the Islamic faith are somehow "the enemy within" as ISIS supporters. The idea that the Muslim-Americans are or could potentially be supportive of ISIS is absurd. The overwhelming majority of ISIS victims have been Muslims deemed by the terrorists to somehow have deviated from the faith. Furthermore, the last thing that anyone with religious ideas similar to ISIS would do is relocate to the United States.

Though it is not to be found among Muslim-Americans, there is indeed an "enemy within" - that is, an entity that supports ISIS from inside the United States. This fifth column, whose members welcome and actively pursue the strengthening of ISIS, won't be found worshiping Allah in mosques, but inside expensive Manhattan suites — worshiping their particular God: money.

The financial elites that have arisen within global capitalism have neither loyalty to the United States nor concern with stopping the spread of terrorism. As ISIS grows stronger, they are watching their profits soar.

Propaganda is a deadly poison, as Andre Vltchek bemoans:

"How do we achieve victory? How do we convince the masses, those billions of people? How do we open their eyes and make them see that the Western regime is dishonest, toxic, poisonous and destructive? Most of humanity is hooked on the Empire's propaganda; that propaganda which is not only spread by mainstream media outlets, but also by pop music, soap operas, social media, advertisement, consumerism, 'fashion trends' and by many other covert means; cultural, religious and media junk that leads to total emotional and intellectual stupor and is administered like some highly addictive narcotic, regularly and persistently."

I think I have the answer to Mr. Vltchek's question, or at least part of it. We have to show how the Empire brainwashes the young and manipulates their thoughts, feelings, emotions and opinions into adulthood. Part of the problem is that people don't recognize when something is in fact propaganda and or course, the best propaganda that which is not recognized as such.

A fundamental component of American propaganda is the creation and maintenance of an enemy, one clearly differentiated as an outsider or "other", by race, religion, or customs. As for Russians, they have incurred the wrath of the U.S. ruling class like no other - first because the Soviet Union led the world socialist movement which threatened the capitalist system, and now because the Russian Federation resists U.S. world dominance. What gall!

Americans have been conditioned to fear, despise and condescend to all things foreign, but none so much as Russia and Russians. This happens in a number of ways, for instance by evoking a sense of the exotic or foreignness by slipping Cyrillic letters into the titles of movies, novels or other propaganda. Also, Russians are perpetually portrayed as being excessively stoic, sinister, duplicitous, oafish and even as cold-blooded monsters. (Remember Ivan Drago from Rocky IV "I must break you?")

That was the 80's, but movies continue to feature scary Russian mobsters, oligarchs and politicians. In the opening sequence of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a maniac is stealing an armored car. He has a barbed wire tattoo on his forehead and it took me a while to realize he was Russian because all he did for five minutes was snarl and roar unintelligibly. Spider-Man finally corners him in an alley, disarming and subduing him and using his web-slinger to pull down his pants, revealing polka-dot boxers; for a brief moment you can see a hammer and sickle tattoo on his leg. Nice touch. "This not end, spider!" the Russian thug shouts just before being knocked unconscious as in a cartoon.

Former head of the Yukos Oil Company Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been arrested in absentia and is wanted internationally, chief spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee told reporters on Wednesday.

Vladimir Markin also said the former oligarch is suspected of conspiracy to murder two or more people - a crime that can carry a life sentence in Russia. The spokesman added that Khodorkovsky had been officially charged in the criminal case that was opened after the murder of Vladimir Petukhov - the mayor of the Siberian city of Neftyugansk who came into conflict with Yukos stakeholders and managers and was killed on June 26, 1998 - Khodorkovsky's birthday.

Five primary suspects, including Yukos co-owner Leonid Nevzlin and head of Yukos' security department Aleksey Pichugin have already been tried and sentenced, but the probe into their crimes continued until 2015 because investigators wanted to reveal their accomplices and primarily who ordered the hits.

In June, the Investigative Committee spokesperson announced the agency had reopened the Petukhov murder case in order to re-examine Khodorkovsky's part in it. In August, investigators attempted to question Khodorkovsky's father, but he refused to talk to them, quoting the part of the Constitution that allows Russian citizens not to testify against themselves or their close relatives.

Early this month, the Investigative Committee summoned Khodorkovsky for questioning as a suspect in Petukhov's assassination. The ex-tycoon who currently resides in Switzerland called the law enforcers' fresh move " a boring attempt to change the subject." He also assured his readers that he had no intention of meeting with investigators.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video showing its air attacks on Islamic State (IS) oil tankers and trucks in Syria. The vehicles explode after being hit by precision airstrikes, and are engulfed in flames.

Russia has been bombing IS infrastructure and positions from its Khmeimim airbase in Latakia since September 30, at the request of the Syrian authorities.

Southeast Anatolia is burning. And nobody can say Sultan Erdogan, a.k.a. President Tayyip, hasn't issued one of his trademark macho warnings.

Since mid-December the Turkish President has been adamant that a blitzkrieg/"cleansing" op in Southeast Anatolia will only end with Kurdish militants associated with the PKK completely "annihilated."

An array of towns - especially Cizre, Silopi and Nusaybin - is totally under siege, encircled by tanks and armored vehicles. Ankara's tactics include the Ministry of Education text-messaging around 3,000 teachers forcing them to return to their hometowns for "on-the-job training."

Divide, Conquer, Colonize

As US-driven wars plummet the Muslim world ever deeper into jihadi-ridden failed state chaos, events seem to be careening toward a tipping point. Eventually, the region will become so profuse a font of terrorists and refugees, that Western popular resistance to "boots on the ground" will be overwhelmed by terror and rage. Then, the US-led empire will finally have the public mandate it needs to thoroughly and permanently colonize the Greater Middle East.

It is easy to see how the Military Industrial Complex and crony energy industry would profit from such an outcome. But what about America's "best friend" in the region? How does Israel stand to benefit from being surrounded by such chaos?

Tel Aviv has long pursued a strategy of "divide and conquer": both directly, and indirectly through the tremendous influence of the Israel lobby and neocons over US foreign policy.

"I will tell you when Russian companies are for sure going to decrease production - when oil costs $0

Courtesy of Russian Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov, this has got to be one of the top quotes of 2015.

Well, forget about oil costing $0 even as OPEC refuses to cut production to curb the global oversupply.

As for Russia, expect it to keep pumping like there's no tomorrow.

Here's the breakdown. Russia will keep its 2016 oil production level at a staggering 533 million tons - which will translate as an average of 4.76 million barrels a day in exports.

Profiting from a stream of more efficient refineries, domestic demand is down and exports are up. Russian oil companies, compared to Western majors, suffer less with low oil prices because of the ruble devaluation and because taxes go down as the oil price goes down. Igor Sechin, president of Rosneft, famously brags that Russian costs are «the lowest in the world» - especially from oil fields in West Siberia.

Russia is the top global oil producer alongside the Saudi oil hacienda. And at least three times in 2015 Russia has exported more oil to China than Saudi Arabia. That fits into the key energy angle of the Russia-China strategic partnership in Eurasia.

Curioser and curioser, this process is now running in parallel to Russia and Saudi Arabia set to - maybe - become potential allies, even as their oil strategy frontally clash. Russian President Vladimir Putin has alluded to a "multibillion-dollar program" in the military-technical spheres.