politics

Putin’s Revenge? The Fight for the Border

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Putin’s Revenge? The Fight for the Border

By Mike Whitney

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It’s clear that Russia’s bombardment of jihadi groups operating near the Turkish-Syrian border has Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan worried. Erdogan has long hoped that the area would be turned into a Safe Zone where Sunni militants– committed to removing Assad from power– could receive weapons and other support from their sponsors while coming and going as they pleased. The Russian-led coalition’s attempt to retake the area and seal the border to stop the flow of terrorists from Turkey, is probably what precipitated the attack on the Russian warplane. It was a desperate attempt to wave-off the Russian offensive and reverse the course of the war which has turned decisively in Assad’s favor. As for the militant groups that are operating in this area, analyst Pepe Escobar sums it up like this in a recent post at Sputnik News:

“The Su-24s were actually after Chechens and Uzbeks — plus a few Uyghurs — smuggled in with fake Turkish passports (Chinese intel is also on it), all of these operating in tandem with a nasty bunch of Turkish Islamo-fascists. Most of these goons transit back and forth between the CIA-weaponized Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Jabhat al-Nusra. These were the goons who machine-gunned the Russian pilots as they parachuted down after the hit on the Su-24….

Turkey, for all practical purposes, has been a handy, sprawling Salafi-jihadi Infrastructure and Logistics Center; it offers everything from porous borders enabling countless jihadi return tickets from Syria to Europe, facilitated by corrupt police, to a convenient crossroads for all kinds of smuggling and a hefty money laundering ops.” (Sultan Erdogan’s War on…Russia, Pepe Escobar, Sputnik)

Escobar sums up Ankara’s role in Syria as succinctly as anyone. Erdogan has been ISIS best friend, of that, there is little doubt. The problem that Turkey faces now is that the Russian-led coalition is rapidly destroying the infrastructure that provides funding for ISIS, (oil refineries, fields and transport) while gradually retaking territory that was formally-controlled by the many anti-regime or al Qaida-linked groups in the north, west and central parts of the country. In the last few days alone, Russia and Co. have concluded the encirclement of Syria’s biggest city, Aleppo, vaporized a convoy of over 500 oil trucks in the vicinity of Raqqa, and intensified their bombing in the Turkmen Mountains, the Kurdish Mountains, and the Prophet Jonah Mountains. The coalition has moved as far north as Azaz along the Turkish border and recaptured the strategic Aleppo-Raqqa highway which completely cuts off ISIS supply-route from the east in Raqqa. All of the recent progress comes in the wake of the retaking of the strategic Kuweris Airbase which was the tipping point in the 4 and a half year-long conflict. Now the Russian coalition has focused on closing the border, a move that will sever vital supply-lines to pro-Turkish militias operating in Syria and force the terrorists to either flee or surrender. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized this point last week saying, “We are convinced that by blocking the border we will in many respects solve the tasks to eradicate terrorism on Syrian soil.”

Keep in mind, that Erdogan is not the only one with designs on the so-called “Afrin-Jarabulus corridor” east of the Euphrates. Powerful politicians in the US, including John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and others, have all alluded to this area as the most suitable location for a no-fly zone. And, despite the fact that Obama refuses to send US ground forces to fight in Syria, he has continued to fuel the conflict in other less conspicuous ways. Just last Wednesday, under the cover of the Thanksgiving holiday when the media was preoccupied with other matters, Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 which provides another $800 million in aid to armed extremists in Syria and Ukraine. The NDAA, which effectively prevents the closing down of US concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo), reflects Obama’s determination to continue Washington’s vicious policy in Syria which has resulted in the deaths of more than 250,000 and the displacement of 11 million more.

This helps to explain why the Russian offensive has set alarms off in Washington; it’s because the US plan to establish a permanent staging ground for terrorists in N Syria is quickly going up in smoke.

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Continue ReadingPutin’s Revenge? The Fight for the Border

2012 Defense Intelligence Agency Document: West Will Facilitate Rise of Islamic State “in Order to Isolate the Syrian Regime”

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2012 Defense Intelligence Agency Document:
West Will Facilitate Rise of Islamic State “in Order to Isolate the Syrian Regime”

2012 Defense Intelligence Agency Document: West Will Facilitate Rise of Islamic State “in Order to Isolate the Syrian Regime”

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Astoundingly, the newly declassified report states that for “THE WEST, GULF COUNTRIES, AND TURKEY [WHO] SUPPORT THE [SYRIAN] OPPOSITION… THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT, IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE SYRIAN REGIME…”.

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The newly released DIA report makes the following summary points concerning “ISI” (in 2012 “Islamic State in Iraq,”) and the soon to emerge ISIS:

  • Al-Qaeda drives the opposition in Syria
  • The West identifies with the opposition
  • The establishment of a nascent Islamic State became a reality only with the rise of the Syrian insurgency (there is no mention of U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq as a catalyst for Islamic State’s rise, which is the contention of innumerable politicians and pundits; see section 4.D. below)
  • The establishment of a “Salafist Principality” in Eastern Syria is “exactly” what the external powers  supporting the opposition want (identified as “the West, Gulf Countries, and Turkey”) in order to weaken the Assad government
  • “Safe havens” are suggested in areas conquered by Islamic insurgents along the lines of the Libyan model (which translates to so-called no-fly zones as a first act of ‘humanitarian war’; see 7.B.)
  • Iraq is identified with “Shia expansion” (8.C)
  • A Sunni “Islamic State” could be devastating to “unifying Iraq” and could lead to “the renewing facilitation of terrorist elements from all over the Arab world entering into Iraqi Arena.” (see last non-redacted line in full PDF view.)

 

UK MPs: SYRIA VOTE Wed:
So Many Lives Are in Your Hands. Get Informed Now!

Continue Reading2012 Defense Intelligence Agency Document: West Will Facilitate Rise of Islamic State “in Order to Isolate the Syrian Regime”

David Cammoron’s most ardent supporters abandon him over his ridiculous plans for air strikes on Syria.

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Camoron’s own supporters recognise that it’s total BS fantasy bolox. It used to be said that Bliar was divorced from reality …

http://www.scotsman.com/news/lesley-riddoch-warnings-from-iraq-going-unheeded-1-3961935

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Three weeks ago the Tory-led House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee advised that intervention in Syria was not a good idea. Peter Oborne – until recently chief political columnist of the Daily Telegraph – has described Cameron’s strategy as “Bomb and hope for 
the best.” And concludes; “We should not go ahead until we have a better idea of what we are doing.” Right-winger and iconoclast Peter Hitchens wrote yesterday; “On the basis of an emotional spasm and a speech that was illogical and factually weak, we are rushing towards yet another swamp, from which we will struggle to extract ourselves and where we can do no conceivable good.” And he says the former ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford energetically opposes what he calls ‘recreational bombing’. The Observer believes expanding military action into Syria is a mistake – so too does the Daily Mail which writes “It sickens the Mail to find ourselves in the same camp as Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell … even more, it distresses us to know many of our readers may disagree with us. But on balance, and with many misgivings, this paper believes the case for bombing Syria has not yet been made.”

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Continue ReadingDavid Cammoron’s most ardent supporters abandon him over his ridiculous plans for air strikes on Syria.

WARNING: Graphic Image. Paris attacks 13 November 2015

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WARNING: Graphic Image. For me it was that photo. That was enough. The claim was that it was carefully considered / planned. So would Daesh make a sacrifice to the devil? I have experience of this. Those numbers in the image. Daesh would do that? Hands up? Looks like a different dialect.

Image of Bataclan theatre following Paris attacks 13 November 2015

ed: a certain dialect. I’ve not ever taken any vows.

ed: J’accuse les NeoCons.

9.15 20/11/15: Who don’t have beards? French culture is anti-stubble – even tramps are clean-shaven FFS. To not have beards is a cultural giveaway. 11.10 21/11/15. This is probably incorrect. They may have had small beards or stubble.

24/11/15 10.15 am

Paris attack witness says black Mercedes pulled up and shooters fired rifles from the hip

Witness describes Paris attackers as clean-shaven, muscular, like soldiers or mercenaries, driving a black Mercedes car.

“He was white, clean shaven and had dark hair neatly trimmed.”

Paris Attack Reported on WIKIPEDIA and TWITTER before it happened

Paris attacks reported at wikipedia and twitter before they happenedThat title is a little misleading. The Wikipedia reports are extremely detailed very soon after the events with one incident reported before it had happened. The twitter report was over two days before the Paris attacks.

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The 23:18 version includes discussions of the hostage-taking, complete with an approximate number of hostages involved (60), as well as detailed accounts of events at several locations. It even has a detailed bibliography. How could your average Wikipedia author have done this incredible piece of work and in less than two hours? Obviously this was not your average Wikipedia author.

You’re invited to read this early version of the Wikipedia article, which appears at the bottom of this post.

Revisions were subsequently made to the article. But the storyline it established, which is undoubtedly why it was written in the first place and gotten into Wikipedia so quickly, did not change through any of those revisions. It’s the storyline that the article is designed to make stick in the public mind.

As yet (00:41 PM CET), the newspapers are reporting simply bullet lists of events which they’re aware of only very sketchily. But Wikipedia has extensive coverage. within a couple of hours. That just did not sit with me and I continued to investigate.

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Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO’s Stay-Behind Armies

Synopsis of the Book

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Chapter One: A terrorist attack in Italy

This chapter describes the discovery of the secret stay-behind army “Gladio” in Italy. The chapter takes the reader back to the Peteano terrorist attack of 31 May 1972. In that year an anonymous phone call after the attack suggested that the left-wing terrorist organization “Red Brigades” had carried out the atrocity, and for many years Italy believed that the crime had been carried out by the political left. Yet in 1984 Italian judge Felice Casson reopened the Peteano case after having discovered large-scale manipulations. The chapter describes how Casson during his investigations discovered the Italian secret stay-behind army “Gladio” hidden within the military secret service and how it had linked up with right-wing terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra who confessed to having carried out the Peteano terrorist attack. The chapter focuses on the agitated Italian public debate that followed when Vinciguerra exposed the so called “strategy of tension” through which members of the secret stay-behind armies and the military secret services had manipulated the public through terrorism. The secret armies supplied right wing terrorists with explosives to carry out terrorist attacks on the Italian population who were thereafter blamed on the communist party and the political left in general in order to discredit the political opponent. “The terrorist line was followed by camouflaged people, people belonging to the security apparatus, or those linked to the state apparatus through rapport or collaboration”, Vincenzo Vinciguerra testified. Right-wing organisations across Western Europe “were being mobilised into the battle as part of an anti-communist strategy originating not with organisations deviant from the institutions of power, but from the state itself, and specifically from within the ambit of the state’s relations within the Atlantic Alliance.“

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Chapter Four: The secret war in the United Kingdom

The chapter takes the reader back to World War Two when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that under the label “Special Operations Executive” (SOE) a secret army had to be created “to set Europe ablaze”. SOE operated behind enemy lines, and following World War Two the British were widely recognised as the leading experts in secret warfare. The chapter describes how the British foreign secret service MI6 together with the British Special Forces “Special Air Service” (SAS) and the CIA during the Cold War set up and trained the secret stay-behind armies in Western Europe. Among those trained by the SAS ranged Decimo Garau, an instructor at the Italian Gladio base Centro Addestramento Guastatori (CAG) on Capo Marargiu in Sardinia

26/11/15 22.50 Comments are very welcome. There is a comments policy that it needs to be relevant and non-commercial. You are welcome to disagree or take issue. The vast majority of comments to this blog are commercial spam that get caught by Akismet. If you have something to say it will be published although I don’t check that often.

16/11/15 23.00 UK Prime Minister David Cameron is currently banging the drum to have UK military bomb – allegedly IS/ISIS/Daesh in Syria. I am opposed to that for a few reasons; 1. There is not a clear objective

2. Despite what DC says innocent people are clearly going to be killed and injured

3. The situation is hugely complex and I don’t see that UK can or should contribute anything to resolving it

4. I suspect that Cameron is following the NeoCon objective of getting rid of al Assad for greater NeoCon objectives. ed: i.e. bombing who?

later ed: You shouldn’t rush into things in an emotional state. You need to consider things rationally. There’s a real danger that people are manipulated through their emotions.

 

Continue ReadingWARNING: Graphic Image. Paris attacks 13 November 2015

FAKE MANUFACTURED TERRORISM: Corporate Media’s Deluge of BS: Syria plane crash

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FAKE MANUFACTURED TERRORISM: Cameron government spins like Blair with Sharm el Sheikh BS

http://sputniknews.com/world/20151108/1029785601/a321-crash-investigation-media.html

A321 Crash investigators Call on Media to Stop Using Anonymous Sources

On Saturday, the Egypt-led investigation committee issued a statement, according to which the reason for the Russian Kogalymavia plane crash in Sinai is yet to be determined. The following day, Reuters reported, citing a unidentified member of the inquiry, that investigators into the plane crash in Egypt were “90 percent sure” the noise heard on the final seconds of a cockpit recording was an explosion caused by a bomb.

“News and media claims, quoting an anonymous source, allegedly one of the members of the Commission, are incorrect, and should not prevail,” Ayman Muqaddam was quoted in the statement published by the Egyptian Ministry of Civil aviation.

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We’ve had an absolute deluge of bullshit from corporate media about the Sinai plane crash being a terrorist act. It appears that it was aided by UK authorities claiming that “chatter” was identified. This incident has been a wonderfull illustration of deliberate deception, of fake, manufactured terrorism.

Metrojet Flight 9268

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The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations sent three of its aircraft to the crash site. The Investigative Committee also started a legal case against Kogalymavia under legislation regulating “violation of rules of flights and preparations.”[55]

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Natalya Trukhacheva, the ex-wife of co-pilot Sergei Trukachev, said in an interview with NTV that her ex-husband had complained to their daughter about the aircraft’s technical state.[52][65]

The aircraft involved in the crash had suffered a tailstrike while landing in Cairo fourteen years earlier.[30][64][66] Some have drawn comparisons to Japan Airlines Flight 123, which crashed into a mountain in 1985, seven years after the plane had suffered a tailstrike while landing.[64] Flight 123 suffered catastrophic damage in mid-air while climbing to its cruising altitude. The crash of Flight 123 was caused by an incorrect repair of the aircraft’s tail section following the tailstrike, which left the rear pressure bulkhead of the plane vulnerable to metal fatigue and ultimately resulted in explosive decompression.[64] Reports on the wreckage of Flight 9268 have suggested that a “clear break” occurred near the plane’s rear pressure bulkhead, possibly indicating failure of the bulkhead.[66]

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Doesn’t the Wikipedia entry strongly suggest the real cause of this accident? Why is corporate media so keen to deliberately deceive and support governments in their bullshit terrorism narrative? Is it that they are partners in the deception – two cheeks of the same arse?*

TBC

*(George Galloway)

Continue ReadingFAKE MANUFACTURED TERRORISM: Corporate Media’s Deluge of BS: Syria plane crash