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Page added on October 4, 2015
Iran Readies Massive Syrian Ground Invasion
On Thursday, in “Mid-East Coup: As Russia Pounds Militant Targets, Iran Readies Ground Invasions While Saudis Panic”, we attempted to cut through all of the Western and Russian media propaganda on the way to describing what Moscow’s involvement in Syria actually portends for the global balance of power. Here are a few excerpts that summarize what’s taking shape in the Middle East:
Putin looks to have viewed this as the ultimate geopolitical win-win. That is, Russia gets to i) expand its influence in the Middle East in defiance of Washington and its allies, a move that also helps to protect Russian energy interests and preserves the Mediterranean port at Tartus, and ii) support its allies in Tehran and Damascus thus preserving the counterbalance to the US-Saudi-Qatar alliance.
Meanwhile, Iran gets to enjoy the support of the Russian military juggernaut on the way to protecting the delicate regional nexus that is the source of Tehran’s Mid-East influence. It is absolutely critical for Iran to keep Assad in power, as the loss of Syria to the West would effectively cut the supply line between Iran and Hezbollah.
It would be difficult to overstate the significance of what appears to be going on here. This is nothing short of a Middle Eastern coup, as Iran looks to displace Saudi Arabia as the regional power broker and as Russia looks to supplant the US as the superpower puppet master.
In short, the Pentagon’s contention that Russia and Iran have formed a Mid-East “nexus” isn’t akin to the Bush administration’s hollow, largely bogus attempt to demonize America’s foreign policy critics in the eyes of the public by identifying an “axis of evil.” Rather, the Pentagon’s assessment was an attempt to come to grips with a very real effort on the part of Moscow and Tehran to tip the scales in the Mid-East away from Riyadh and Washington.
Solidifying the Assad regime in Syria serves to shore up Hezbollah and presents Tehran with an opportunity to assert itself in the name of combatting terror. The latter point there is critical. The West has long contended that Iran is the world’s foremost state sponsor of terror, and the Pentagon has variously accused the Quds Force of orchestrating attacks on US soldiers in Iraq after cooperation between Washington and Tehran broke down in the wake of Bush’s “axis of evil” comment.
Indeed, Iran was accused of masterminding a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador at a Washington DC restaurant in 2011.
Now, the tables have turned. It is the US, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar who stand accused of sponsoring Sunni extremists and it is Iran, and specifically the Revolutionary Guard, that gets to play hero.
Of course this would be largely impossible without Moscow’s stamp of superpower approval. The optics around the P5+1 nuclear deal were making it difficult for Tehran to be too public in its efforts to bolster Assad. That doesn’t mean Tehran’s support for the regime in Syria hasn’t been well documented for years, it simply means that Iran needed to observe some semblance of caution, lest its role in Syria should end up torpedoing the nuclear negotiations. Now that Moscow is officially involved, that caution is no longer obligatory and Iran is now moving to support Russian airstrikes with an outright ground incursion (just as we’ve been saying for weeks). Here’s WSJ:
Iran is expanding its already sizable role in Syria’s multisided war in the wake of Russia’s airstrikes, despite the risk of antagonizing the U.S. and its Persian Gulf allies who want to push aside President Bashar al-Assad.
Politicians in the region close to Tehran as well as analysts who have been closely following its role in Syria say a decision has been made, in close coordination with the Russians and the Assad regime, to increase the number of fighters on the ground through Iran’s network of local and foreign proxies.
The support also could involve more Iranian commanders, military advisers and expert fighters usually assigned to these units, these people said.
Wiam Wahhab, a former Lebanese minister allied to Iran and Mr. Assad, stressed that Iran wouldn’t be dispatching troops in the conventional sense. Instead, they were likely to be officers and advisers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, he said.
“I know there is a major battle upon us and everything needed for this battle will be made available,” said Mr. Wahhab, who has some members from his own political party fighting in Syria alongside the regime. “There is a plan to carry out offensive operations in more than one spot.”
Experts believe Iran has some 7,000 IRGC members and Iranian paramilitary volunteers operating in Syria already.
Separate from the regular army, the IRGC was founded in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution as an ideological “people’s army” reporting directly to the supreme leader, Iran’s top decision maker.
The more than 100,000-strong force controls a vast military, economic and security power structure in Iran and is in charge of proxies across the region. Its paramilitary organization, the Basij, was the lead force in the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 2009.
Since late 2012 Iran has played a lead role in organizing, training and funding local pro-regime militias in Syria, many of them members of Mr. Assad’s Alawite minority, a branch of Shiite Islam. Experts believe they number between 150,000 and 190,000—possibly more than what remains of Syria’s conventional army.
What’s more, some experts estimate 20,000 Shiite foreign fighters are on the ground, backed by both Shiite Iran and its main proxy in the region, the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.
About 5,000 of them are new arrivals from Iraq in July and August alone, said Phillip Smyth, a researcher at the University of Maryland. He said this figure was compiled through his own contacts with some of these fighters, flight data between Baghdad and Damascus as well as social media postings. “It looks like it was timed out to coincide with the Russian move,” Mr. Smyth said.
Yes, it certainly does “look like” that, and it wasn’t hard to see this coming. Here’s another excerpt from our recent analysis:
Back in June, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Qasem Soleimaini, visited a town north of Latakia on the frontlines of Syria’s protracted civil war. Following that visit, he promised that Tehran and Damascus were set to unveil a new strategy that would “surprise the world.”
Just a little over a month later, Soleimani – in violation of a UN travel ban – visited Russia and held meetings with The Kremlin.
Make no mistake, this is shaping up to be the most spectacular US foreign policy debacle since Vietnam – and we don’t think that’s an exaggeration.
The US, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, attempted to train and support Sunni extremists to overthrow the Assad regime. Some of those Sunni extremists ended up going crazy and declaring a Medeival caliphate putting the Pentagon and Langley in the hilarious position of being forced to classify al-Qaeda as “moderate.” The situation spun out of control leading to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and when Washington finally decided to try and find real “moderates” to help contain the Frankenstein monster the CIA had created in ISIS (there were of course numerous other CIA efforts to arm and train anti-Assad fighters, see below for the fate of the most “successful” of those groups), the effort ended up being a complete embarrassment that culminated with the admission that only “four or five” remained and just days after that admission, those “four or five” were car jacked by al-Qaeda in what was perhaps the most under-reported piece of foreign policy comedy in history.
Meanwhile, Iran sensed an epic opportunity to capitalize on Washington’s incompetence. Tehran then sent its most powerful general to Russia where a pitch was made to upend the Mid-East balance of power. The Kremlin loved the idea because after all, Moscow is stinging from Western economic sanctions and Vladimir Putin is keen on showing the West that, in the wake of the controversy surrounding the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Russia isn’t set to back down. Thanks to the fact that the US chose extremists as its weapon of choice in Syria, Russia gets to frame its involvement as a “war on terror” and thanks to Russia’s involvement, Iran gets to safely broadcast its military support for Assad just weeks after the nuclear deal was struck. Now, Russian airstrikes have debilitated the only group of CIA-backed fighters that had actually proven to be somewhat effective and Iran and Hezbollah are preparing a massive ground invasion under cover of Russian air support. Worse still, the entire on-the-ground effort is being coordinated by the Iranian general who is public enemy number one in Western intelligence circles and he’s effectively operating at the behest of Putin, the man that Western media paints as the most dangerous person on the planet.
As incompetent as the US has proven to be throughout the entire debacle, it’s still difficult to imagine that Washington, Riyadh, London, Doha, and Jerusalem are going to take this laying down and on that note, we close with our assessment from Thursday:
If Russia ends up bolstering Iran’s position in Syria (by expanding Hezbollah’s influence and capabilities) and if the Russian air force effectively takes control of Iraq thus allowing Iran to exert a greater influence over the government in Baghdad, the fragile balance of power that has existed in the region will be turned on its head and in the event this plays out, one should not expect Washington, Riyadh, Jerusalem, and London to simply go gentle into that good night.
94 Comments on "Iran Readies Massive Syrian Ground Invasion"
Bloomer on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 8:18 pm
Boat.. there wouldn’t be civil war in Ukraine if the U.S. hadn’t participated in a coup to take down their legitimate government. The people in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea don’t want any part of their new puppet government.
BC on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 8:43 pm
@apnea: LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
Those fairy tales die hard about our being ruled by fearful, angry, jealous, vengeful, violent, genocidal tribal desert Abrahamic sky gods.
Funny thing, those nasty SOBs have traits remarkably similar to those of human apes.
Humankind created God (gods) so that God (gods) could create humankind.
Phil on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 9:08 pm
@ Joe, Hezbollah has beefs with the US, Israel, Europe and Sunni Muslims. They attacked the US embassy twice, hijacked a US airliner, kidnapped dozens of Europeans, bombed US and French marines in Lebanon, and are fighting Sunnis in Syria, to name just a few things.
Truth Has A Liberal Bias on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 9:09 pm
The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement has only been changed twice. The first time was the Israeli independence movement and the second is now with ISIS and the Caliphate.
The mechanisms that were used to redraw the map in the Middle East are the same in both cases; the use of foreign money, the use of foreign fighters, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, and a mythical vision, in the case of Israel, the re-creation of Judea and Samaria from the Bible, the land of Israel, and in the case of ISIS, the re-creation of the seventh century caliphate.
As collapse progresses around the globe we shall observe more and more decentralization of power and unregulated mass migration. What we are observing in the Middle East is simply the signs and symptoms of collapse as it progresses from the least resilient to the most.
As usual it will not be perceived by the masses as an ecological/energy crisis but as a political/economic one. It is in that regard that the human response to collapse will only exacerbate the problem.
The Retarded States of America and it’s population of stupid/obese intellectual midgets and it’s corrupt, venal and mediocre leaders will struggle to comprehend the reality around them as they fight over stagnant ideals and blow each others brains out.
Alex A. on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 9:19 pm
The ‘armchair expert’ that described the AC-130 Specter as having ‘turrets’ needs to take a class on recognition. The AC-130 is armed with two 20mm M-61 Vulcan ‘gatling guns’ that fires 4,800 rounds per minute each, two 40mm Bofors cannon (former naval anti-aircraft guns) and a 105mm semi-automatic cannon, with a sophisticated fire-control system for all weather operations day and night. The gun crew in the cargo bay uses special television and sensor systems for target acquisition before firing any of the guns, which keeps them from firing on friendly positions. The Specter’s firepower is totally devastating.
Paul Pettit on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 9:56 pm
Why hasn’t ISIS gone after Israehell?
Gerard on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 10:07 pm
Of course, procrastinating proves again lethal here.
The US had a possibility to help insurgents in Syria and provide arms when they were victorious against Assad’s army. The US did not take the opportunity, and we now see the results.
George Thomas on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 10:17 pm
Oh I know America and Israel and the Saudis won’t go quietly into the night.
But here the Americans won’t be fighting the Iraqi Sunnis anymore.
And Israel won’t be bombing women and children called Hamas.
They are going to have to fight the Russians and a bunch of sophisticated weapons systems called s-300s and better still S-400s and Sizzler Missiles.
And Fourth Generation Russian Fighters will prove just how badly all of us American tax payers were robbed by the F-35 and F-22.
And the Russians will have real leverage should they decide to take the Ukraine or Georgia or maybe even the Baltics — and if you go that far you mine as well keep going; because they can really win a war on their border.
And I cannot wait to see it.
makati1 on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 10:51 pm
If you don’t think a world war is coming, maybe you should check out the latest Western aggression against Russia.
They are giving new targets for Russian missiles.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/hungary-to-host-nato-command-center/5479766
“However, the US relies not only on its nuclear arsenal in countering the perceived ‘Russian threat’. It has also prepared for a possible hybrid war with Russia in Europe’s Baltic States, German media reports.
The report by Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) says all the NATO war games organized in the region by Washington are held with the intent of preparing for various military response scenarios.
The Pentagon has shifted its military thinking when it comes to Moscow, selecting Russia’s direct neighbors in the Baltic region as the battleground, DWN adds. Its plan includes using irregular troops and destabilizing the region via mass rallies as well as cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure.”
If the US believes that it will not come to America in missiles and bomber loads, they are fools. Oops! They ARE fools.
Glad I am 8,000 miles from both areas.
makati1 on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 10:54 pm
BTW: Did you notice the word’s “nuclear arsenal” in that comment by our war mongering Americans? Nuclear as in radioactive, mushroom cloud, death in huge numbers and lingering death for years after.
Oh, you say the US will never use them? Hiroshima and Nagasaki…
bigL on Sun, 4th Oct 2015 11:08 pm
there are alot of irresponsible post about the conflit in syria. its like a football or video game to alot of people without any view as to the consequences of russia and iran attacking israel from syrian bases. the miscalc is this. israel, like iran, is a religious-ethnic state. many there have been expecting an attack from russia and/or iran, and they don’t necessarily expect to win it, but the reason for the jewish nuclear weapons is to eye for eye. you are not dealing with the west in israel, you are dealing with religious fanatics, same as iran. only israel has at least 100 garranteed deliverable nukes. if israel figures the end is close, they will use these weapons, and yes, they can reach russia and iran.
makati1 on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 12:45 am
bigL, I doubt very much that they would be stupid enough to use them. Israel would be glass and all Jews around the world would be killed. They are already hated in most places by more than Muslims. They know that.
I doubt that they have the ability to use the nukes at any distance (Russia) from Israel. No ICBMs. No bombers able to go that far. Too many countries airspace to cross. Barely above 3rd world status without nukes. And to use them in the ME would be suicide in so many ways.
Jewish world population in 2015 = ~14 million.
Shiite population of the world in 2015 = ~164 million. ~11:1 Who would win?
Bruce S. Conklin on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 5:42 am
The claim that former Afghan mujahideen “turned on us ” and created Al-Qaeda is nonsense; the U.S. never had any ties with the “Islamist” foreigners who were brought together to create that group in 1988.
Bruce S. Conklin on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 5:45 am
The “Jews” would easily crush the Shiites in anything resembling a real war; compare their armament, technology, industrial capacity ( many times that of the Shiites ) and fighting ability.
Truth Has A Liberal Bias on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 5:54 am
Analysts say Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are now likely to increase military aid to the anti-Assad groups they support
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/04/russia-bombing-syria-affects-ousting-of-assad
Turkey and Qatar have reportedly backed northern rebels, including conservative Islamist militias such as Ahrar al Sham, a Syrian insurgent group founded by members loyal to al Qaeda.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/22/us-mideast-syria-crisis-ahrar-insight-idUSKCN0RM0EZ20150922
charmcitysking on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:07 am
“The claim that former Afghan mujahideen “turned on us ” and created Al-Qaeda is nonsense; the U.S. never had any ties with the “Islamist” foreigners who were brought together to create that group in 1988.”
——-
Yes, actually, they did.
makati1 on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:35 am
Bruce, you are dreaming again. The Israelis are paper tigers just like the US. The only support they have for war is those few like Nut-n-yahoo and his insane partners in crime. The Jewish people don’t want war. The Holocaust would be world wide this time and permanent.
Davy on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:54 am
Boy that subject got pounded into the dirt with dirt. I am especially proud of the war pig dog paw. How about this comment:
“The Holocaust would be world wide this time and permanent.”
Good job dog paw that is one profound quote that sums you up to a T.
nazir haji on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 6:56 am
This Shiite/Sunni divide is an invention of the West & US Thinktank. Both are fighting the same enemy -ISIL and its terror cells. Thousands od Sunnis were massacred by ISIL and all the Western Alliance was to ‘tango’ with Saudi & Qatar. Months of air raids made ISIL even stronger (with funds funneled by these 2 sponsors). Now that Putin has come in, the ‘sleepy
alliance has suddenly woke up and started complaining that monopoly of bombing has been snatched from them. I say Bravo Russia-you have saved millions of innocent people from being massacred by these ISIL animals.
makati1 on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 7:16 am
nazir, the US cannot win anywhere so they just create chaos and sell weapons to both sides. They have been doing it at least since WW1.
Davy on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 7:23 am
Yea nazir, Sunni and Shia love each other I see it everywhere.
Theodore silinge on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 7:24 am
Apneaman, you need to grow mentally and physically
dooma on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 7:28 am
Looks like things are starting to get very Syrai-s
Oh and how much did it set you back to obtain a custom keyboard manufactured with it’s very own Obama key Plant?
dooma on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 7:38 am
“there are alot of irresponsible post about the conflit in syria. its like a football or video game to alot of people without any view as to the consequences of russia and iran attacking israel from syrian bases. the miscalc is this. israel, like iran, is a religious-ethnic state. many there have been expecting an attack from russia and/or iran, and they don’t necessarily expect to win it, but the reason for the jewish nuclear weapons is to eye for eye. you are not dealing with the west in israel, you are dealing with religious fanatics, same as iran. only israel has at least 100 garranteed deliverable nukes. if israel figures the end is close, they will use these weapons, and yes, they can reach russia and iran.”
Absolutely nailed it bigl!
Davy on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 8:00 am
Dooma, the anti-westerners love to spout off all the negatives but are loath to admit the positives. This puts them in the same league as those they despise. Their hatred and resentment is so great they cannot approach topics with objectivity. This leads to immature and inaccurate posts.
This is where the world is heading a critical mass of assholes on all sides absorbed in hatred. That makes for an optimistic future “sarc”. It seems all the net has done is magnify the absurdity of human nature and the corns wonder why I am a doomer.
ramo on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 8:46 am
what a load of rubbish, but worse it’s a bunch of self interested moralizing. people are no longer so stupid as to believe all that crap about the Russian bad guys and the US good guys, gimme a break everyone is just looking out for their own interests.
Syria needs to be cleaned up and it needs to be done without smashing up the state institutions. if nothing else Iraq has shown what happens when you invade and topple all the state institutions. you get a country with no hospitals to speak of, no schools, but worst of all no security of human life. the present state of anarchy can not be tolerated till the US gets it’s 5 moderate fighters ready to save the day. we need to go after is and support the sovereign government of Syria in eradicating all forms of terror attacks in the country, no matter who is backing the terrorists, if they attack like terrorists they need to be stopped by any means. the population must once again be safe in their daily lives. then the refugees will want to go back too. only then can one have real elections. i know the US would prefer to chose the next president just like in Afghanistan, and Iraq, but that is not what the Syrian people want. and happily Russia will help to insure Syria gets to decide it’s own future. btw Iraq is very happy to have serious air strikes against IS. they know you cannot defeat is if all you care about is not helping Assad, when he is the only real force on the ground fighting IS, except for the Kurds that is. so yeah the Russians need their warm water port and have a longstanding relationship with Syria so it’s in their own interest to get IS beaten fast, no messing about with arming other terrorists and criminals to fight other terrorist.
BobInget on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 8:51 am
Swiped from another energy board;
The Big Sqeese….then Checkmate?
Next chess move by Putin: get Iranian forces into Iraq, now ongoing. Next move: get a Russian airbase in Iraq. Next move: get Iranian forces next to Saudi border under pretext of cutting off ISIS from escaping into Saudi Arabia. Next move: get Iranians to ship in a large number of intermediate missiles and cruise missiles. Final moves: Putin phones Rouhani and starts another convoy to Yemen. The last convoy 4 months ago was 2 freighters escorted by 3 Iranian naval ships. The Naval ships broke off and went back to Iran and the freighters broke off from entering the Bad-el-Mandeb straight and offloaded in East Africa. This time its different. Same convoy starts out but this time they don,t back down! They all head though the Mandeb for Yemen. Putin hopes the ships are fired upon so Iranian missiles in Iraq can shower down on Saudi Refineries in reprisal. If the Saudies back down, then its still game over because weapons will quickly be followed by Iranian troops. Checkmate for Putin. He gets$100 to $200 a barrel.
BobInget on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 8:59 am
Can we stop floating “terrorists” as an all purpose pejorative?
It’s getting as overused ‘like’ …
Davy on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 9:09 am
What a joke Ramo, “Happily the Russians will help insure the Syrian people get to decide their own future”. What a crock of shit. Russians are ensuring Syria remains in their sphere of influence. If Russians wanted to let Syrians decide their future Putin would have used his influence when Syria first erupted in violence. This whole Syrian quagmire began with decades of a brutal family dictatorship being supported by the Russians. You anti-westerners are a laugh. Ramo said some logical things then you gave away his agenda.
Davy on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 9:17 am
Bob, please spare me Putin wins with $200 oil. Putin is done with $200 oil because the global system is done. If Iran rains missiles down on KSA do you thing the Americans will sit by and twiddle their thumbs. You guys are truely entertaining.
I have yet to hear a coherent story from any of you on this Syrian story. Notice I am not offering one. You know why? It is because this is a complex conflict with many subtleties we are not privy too. We know the basics but when you guys start speculating you are as bad as old women in a sowing circle. This is Hollywood at its best just go to peak oil dot come board.
Steve on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 9:34 am
WE ALL KNOW AMERICA LIKE TO CAUSE TROUBLE AND LIKES TO TOPPLE GOVERNMENTS AND PUT IN THEIR OWN PUPPETS. AMERICA HAS BEEN DOING THIS AFTER IT TOOK OVER FROM THE BRITS.THESE COUNTRIES HAVE LOOTED AND RAPPED COUNTRIES BECAUSE THEY ARE POWERFUL THEY KILLED SADDAM MOMMAR KADDAFI OF LIBYA TOOK THEIR WEALTH AND THE COUNTRY IS IN CIVIL WAR . TELL ME WHO DOES NOT SEE THIS ? THE MIDDLE EAST SPRING RISING WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT AFTER THE COALITION ARMY DECIDED TO LEAVE IRQA , THEY CAME UP WITH CREATING AN ATMOSPHERE WHERE THE MID-EAST WOULD BE IN CIVIL WAR FOR DECADES TO COME THUS GIVING ISRAEL POWER TO SLAP PALESTIANIANS WITH ANY AND WHAT EVER LAWS AND U N SANCTION THEY WOULD AND DRAG THE FIGHT FOR A FREE LAND EXCHANGE FOR THEM JUST THINK WHO BENEFITS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST IN CIVIL WAR THE COALITION OF COURSE FOR ITS OIL FOR ONE AND THEN KEEPING THE ARABS OFF OF THE BACKS OF ISRAEL. NOW RUSSIA GETS IN AND ALL HELL IS GOING TO BREAK LOOSE THIS GIVES THE UNDERLINEING PEOPLE THE OPPURTUNITY TO NOW GET SOME REAL SUPPORT AND NOW THEY WILL FIGHT BACK GIVING THE OTHER GROUP A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO HESR FOUL PLAY EVERYDAY BY THE COALITION FIGHTERS AND I WILL SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE FIGHT , i WANT TO SEE ANOTHER VIETNAM IN THE MIDDLE EAST .GO COWBOYS GET SOME SAND NIGGERS UP YOURSHA HA HA WHAT FUN
makati1 on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 9:54 am
Enjoy it Steve. It will soon be coming to a neighborhood near you.
ramo on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 9:56 am
Davy on the moon, i have to say that it’s a incomplete quote. in the end the Russians are acting in their own interest, thats clear. just like the US is always acting in it’s own interests. but in this case it is in the interest of Russia to get peace back to Syria, they want this asap. this happens to coincide with the interests of the Syrian civil society. they all realize that their is no future in these endless insurgencies. they look back with longing to the days of peace and plenty, before the US backed rebels were supported politically by the US and given free rain to cause chaos. while Assad was told if he lifted 1 finger he is a war criminal. i personally would like to see how the US police react to a similar situation, i doubt they would talk of peaceful protesters. they would talk about mobs of thugs, ring any bells? but yeah have an armed insurgency in Syria and it’s all good, who wants peace, who wants safe roads and jobs and schools hospitals? who wants to walk out the door knowing they wont be shot, kidnapped or blown to smithereens by some “moderate” suicide bomber
it’s always the same anyone not parroting cnn or worse fox, is an anti western troll. well i’m not anti western, i’m anti not minding our own business and then blaming everyone else for our screw ups all over the world. how many countries do we westerners need to see back in the dark ages before we stop messing around with the lives of millions of people for the sake of some crazy geopolitical plans of world domination?
Davy on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 10:09 am
See how the ant-Americans are they want blood and no prisoners. Did you hear me try to defend the U.S. Mr Ramon noodles? That is because I am not stupid enough to defend failure. I will call out agendas and distortions. You have a clear agenda noodles and that disqualifies you from being objective.
Jake on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 10:22 am
This article lost me when it approvingly quoted IN BOLD that “It would be difficult to overstate the significance of what appears to be going on here.” “Difficult”?? You’ve GOT to be kidding me! Partly because the middle east is, admittedly, concerning, it is arguably the EASIEST problem set to overstate currently on the world stage. It is overstated several times every day on each of the vast majority of talk radio stations, both secular and (with reference to Armageddon) religious. Fox News obviously calculates that their bottom line is proportional to the amount they overstate what’s happening in the Middle East, and they’ve made it easy as pie.
joe on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 10:33 am
Israel will seek peace with Palestine once every single Palestinian refugee (that includes the children of the original refugees from all Israeli expansions btw) is safely ensconced in Europe and on EU social welfare and no longer care about Palestine.
Yes they really think like that, this is the PNAC plan, to redraw the middle east maps, Russia is saying no, because in the Great Game, they lose access to markets in this US/Saudi/Qatari/Israeli gambit. If America learned to share then things would not have to be this way.
Guys, the US literally gives Israel all the money it needs to survive, if they didn’t the Israel would be a few dozen kibbutz and a few hundred thousand Jews, Palestine would have more or less been stable with violence mostly coming from the Jews as it was from 1920s- 1980s. America has been the cause I of its own problems because US elite leadership thinks it’s their job to decide what’s good for everyone else, even if that means mixing up Europe ethnically and religiously and thinking nothing bad will come of it! The vikings, the Irish and the British all made it from western Europe to America, from western European shores, don’t think for a second the jihadists are incapable of making that voyage of a few weeks (days by motor boat, hours by plane)
joe on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 10:44 am
Here is what the Shiites think of NATO EFFORTS against ISIS
http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-militia-boss-says-us-not-serious-fighting-142016723.html
“They are currently recruiting fighters from 108 countries in the world and all of them are going through Turkey, with the coalition’s knowledge,” he said.
“We told America” ‘if you are serious about fighting Daesh, you have to stop those arrivals, which are wreaking carnage and destruction on Syria and Iraq’,” he said.
The US-led coalition — which also includes France and Britain — has carried out more than 7,000 strikes on Iraq and Syria since August 2014.
chad55555 on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 10:53 am
You would have to nuts not to know Russia and Iran with China is using terrorist groups like ISIS as an excuse to take over the Middle East(it will come out Iran and Russia is funding and planed this from the beginning ! ! Reunification of Persia with Iran and Russia reaping the rewards of American lives and money ! Pulling out was the biggest mistake America has made in 100 years ! Unless it was planed this way to harm Israel and America by a deceitful leader in sheep clothes !
WORSE IT YET TO COME !
Dredd on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 11:12 am
Now everybody wants to be a virgin (The Virgin MOMCOM – 10).
GregT on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 12:19 pm
“You would have to nuts not to know Russia and Iran with China is using terrorist groups like ISIS as an excuse to take over the Middle East”
Speaking of being “nuts”…………….
onlooker on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 12:28 pm
haha, you got that slightly wrong, you mean the US is using terrorist groups like ISIS as an excuse to take over the Middle East”
Jerome Von Phifer on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 3:59 pm
All praise to Putin, Hero of the Soviet Union, and for the help from the great Han Empire of China to confront the western devils and their lackeys, to crush them underfoot.
Davy on Mon, 5th Oct 2015 4:09 pm
Putin worship at its best. Sounds like a Hitler youth repeating his chants for the upcoming rally. What a frighten jerk!
apneaman on Tue, 6th Oct 2015 1:39 am
http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/