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10 February 2015 Last updated at 22:31 ET
Ukraine conflict: Obama warns Putin ahead of peace talks
Both Ukrainian government forces and rebel fighters appeared to launch offensives ahead of peace talks
BBC
US President Barack Obama has warned President Vladimir Putin that Russia will face greater costs if it continues its "aggressive actions" in Ukraine.
US President Barack Obama has warned President Vladimir Putin that Russia will face greater costs if it continues its "aggressive actions" in Ukraine.
Mr Obama urged his Russian counterpart to seize the opportunity of fresh talks to find a peaceful solution to the war that has raged since April last year.
Mr Putin is due to meet with the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine at a summit in Belarus on Wednesday.
However, there was intense fighting in eastern Ukraine ahead of the talks.
On Tuesday, four soldiers and at least eight civilians were killed in rocket attacks on a key military base and a residential area in Kramatorsk.
Government officials said the rockets were fired from a rebel-held area, but separatists denied being behind the attack.
More than 5,400 people have died since the conflict began and civilian casualties have risen in recent weeks.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of sending troops and arms to support the rebels, but Russia denies this.
The summit in the Belarusian capital Minsk is expected to focus on securing a ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons, as well as the creation of a demilitarised zone.
Russian sources said senior officials from the four countries had agreed terms for a ceasefire ahead of the meeting,
Ukraine: Restore government authority over breakaway areas, though Donetsk and Luhansk regions could get greater self-rule; disarm rebel forces; withdrawal of Russian troops; restore Kiev's control over Ukraine-Russia border; full prisoner exchange.
Pro-Russian rebels: Separation from rest of Ukraine and recognition of "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk; no disarmament of separatist forces; amnesty for separatist leaders.
Russia: Legal guarantees for rights of Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine; full autonomy for Donetsk and Luhansk in a federal system - not necessarily independence; no return of Crimea to Ukraine; withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from combat zone.
EU and US: Restore Ukraine's territorial integrity; end Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine - withdrawal of all Russian troops and heavy weapons; effective monitoring of Russia-Ukraine border and demilitarised zone between the combatants; full democracy in Donetsk and Luhansk.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall says it remains unclear what concessions President Putin might be prepared to make while he continues to deny Russian involvement.
President Obama phoned Mr Putin on the eve of the talks to reiterate US support for Ukraine, just days after he refused to rule out supplying "lethal defensive weapons" to Kiev if diplomacy fails.
Russia, however, has warned the West that sending arms to Ukraine would worsen the crisis.
Fighting on the ground intensified ahead of the talks in Minsk, with both sides attempting to make territorial gains before any possible peace agreement.
As well as the violence in Kramatorsk, there were also renewed clashes elsewhere in eastern Ukraine.
Rebels said they had cut off the last supply route for government troops holed up in Debaltseve, a railway hub near the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
Meanwhile, the commander of an ultra-nationalist volunteer group loyal to Kiev said its forces, which are based in Mariupol, were advancing on pro-Russian rebels outside the southern port city.
- 5,486 people people killed and 12,972 wounded in eastern Ukraine
- Fatalities include 298 people on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down on 17 July
- 263 civilians killed in populated areas between 31 January and 5 February
- 5.2 million people estimated to be living in conflict areas
- 978,482 internally displaced people within Ukraine, including 119,832 children
- 600,000 fled to neighbouring countries, of whom more than 400,000 have gone to Russia
President Obama tackled what was no doubt one of the more daunting items on his to-do list Tuesday when he called up his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and presented his take on what Putin should do about Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteWith just a day to go before Putin was set to meet in Minsk, Belarus, with European heads of state, Obama gestured at the potential consequences of Russia’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, as CNN reported:
The White House said Obama underscored to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call “the importance of ... seizing the opportunity presented by the ongoing discussions between Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine to reach a peaceful resolution” to the violence in Eastern Ukraine.
... “If Russia continues its aggressive actions in Ukraine, including by sending troops, weapons and financing to support the separatists, the costs for Russia will rise,” Obama told Putin, according to the White House.
For the moment, Obama has heeded his European allies’ requests by shelving talk of American military aid or action in Ukraine, despite urging to the contrary by Congress.
—Posted by Kasia Anderson
What's ya all gonna do about it, Kasia ?
DeleteBurp, like Rufus ?
What would Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson do?
DeleteWhat would Jack "Murderer of Civilians" Hawkins do?
DeleteNo idea who that would be.
DeleteNot to worry, Homeland Security KNOWS who you are.
DeleteTheir choice and their stupidity costs you money
ReplyDeleteMeasles Outbreak in Dollars and Cents: It Costs Taxpayers Bigtime
The official measles count is up to 121 cases in 17 states, the CDC reported on Monday, and 85 percent of those resulted from the outbreak stemming from the Disneyland exposure. That’s more cases than were seen in all of 2012 – and it’s only February.
Much virtual ink has been spilled in the past several weeks about what an awful disease measles can be, about the impact of irresponsible doctors’ advice, and about the ramifications of not vaccinating on those unable to be vaccinated.
But only a handful of folks have talked about costs. Measles is expensive. Really expensive. And even if you live in a highly vaccinated area with no outbreaks, a measles case in your state – that’s a third of the U.S. right now – still means health department tax dollars diverted from other programs to deal with a disease that was eliminated from the U.S. in 2000.
“These outbreaks have economic costs. They are disruptive,” said Gregory Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. “The smaller ones have cost a couple hundred dollars in public resources, and one cost nearly a million dollars. It’s on the lesser side – health is more important – but it consumes public health resources that could be applied to the other pressing problems we face.”
In 2011, the cost of 107 cases spread across 16 outbreaks cost local and state health departments an estimated $2.7 million to $5.3 million. Because measles is so contagious, infecting 90 percent of susceptible individuals and remaining airborne up to two hours after an infectious person has left the area, the number of contacts a single case can generate grows exponentially once an outbreak begins. The cases in 2011 involved contacting somewhere between 8,900 and 17,450 individuals, which required 42,000 to 83,000 personnel hours.
oh nooooo, now Bob is going to hate all atheists, it's their culture dontcha know?:
ReplyDelete"Three Muslim college students killed in North Carolina
Three college students were shot to death in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Tuesday night near the University of North Carolina. The three students — a man, his wife and her sister — were Muslim, and may have been targeted because of their faith.
Police have yet to confirm a motive, but the 46-year-old suspect, who is currently in custody, posted anti-religious remarks on Facebook.
Craig Stephen Hicks, who has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, posted several messages and a photo of a gun before the shooting.
In, a 2013 post, Hicks focused on "anti-theism" and included the message, "Of course I want religion to go away." "
http://mashable.com/2015/02/11/muslim-students-chapel-hill/
Mr Hicks was a progressive, fan of MSNBC and Rachael Maddow.
DeleteLOL
A review of the Facebook page of the man charged in these murders, Craig Hicks, shows a consistent themes of anti-religion and progressive causes. Included in his many Facebook “likes” are the Huffington Post, Rachel Maddow, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Freedom from Religion Foundation, Bill Nye “The Science Guy,” Neil deGrasse Tyson, Gay Marriage groups, and a host of anti-conservative/anti-Tea Party pages.
Sounds like Rat, Deuce and Rufus
Always very amusing LOL when three young people get murdered LOL by some fanatic. The good news is that they were not Jews LOL but only Muslims . LOL
DeleteWho finds humor in the deaths of innocent people, but our little "O"rdure.
DeleteBut then, again, he did want to nuke any and all 'threats'.
The 'threat' is enough, in "O"rdure world to kill hundreds of thousands of people.
Not funny, at all.
I found nothing funny the murder, but the murderer.
DeleteBut what to expect to folks like you that advocate the genocide of Jews?
Reference that piece of "O"rdurious libel.
DeleteIf you can, but we all know that you cannot, O"rdure.
You are lying, again.
Mr Hicks was a progressive, fan of MSNBC and Rachael Maddow.
DeleteLOL
Check the news Ratboy… Or should I say "Jack "the Murderer of Civilians" Hawkins?
O we remember rat boy we remember being threatened with death by you over the internet.
DeleteWiO and I, we both got good mems.
Yeah and to find out ratboy had been stalking the WRONG JEW for almost a decade just cracks me up..
Deletethink of it, he even bragged he bought CHOCOLATE from them, a couple of times…
LOL
Parve Chocolate that is….
LOL
Now that is STILL PRICELESS
SodaStream had managed to raise its stock price above $20 per share, but so far , in today's trading ...
ReplyDeleteIt has dropped 5.81%
The value of that corporation has cratered, thanks to the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, or really poor management.
Thanks Jack, so Soda Stream is still in business, having gotten rid of all it's non-Israeli workers, moved to a location with excellent tax breaks in a new and modern plant, thus saving millions a year in in house costs
DeleteStill producing 42 million a year in net profit and keeping a butt load of employees employed and making an excellent wage...
What some speculating investors care about? I do not...
But at last check, with the Wharton School of Business, a shareholder does not experience a profit or a loss of a stock if not sold or given away.
Maybe you need to learn basic accounting?
Garnering $42 million from operations, while losing $880 million in market value, does not take a Masters Degree in accounting to understand.
DeleteIf the $42 million is indicative of the 'good' management at SodaStream, then the $880 million in lost equity has to be chalked up to the BDS campaign against that company.
DeleteTh economics of modern colonialism, the Achilles heal of Zionism.
Post a link, or reference to the Wharton School, if you can.
Delete{;-)
Because, "O"rdure, as mentioned earlier your own veracity is nonexistent.
DeletePost a link from your made up "Madoff School"
DeleteAt least MY school of reference is real and exists
Jack HawkinsWed Feb 11, 12:58:00 PM EST
DeleteIf the $42 million is indicative of the 'good' management at SodaStream, then the $880 million in lost equity has to be chalked up to the BDS campaign against that company.
Th economics of modern colonialism, the Achilles heal of Zionism.
The valuation of un-sold stock is not realized until it is sold.
If you dispute this?
Take it up with the Wharton School of Business
Fox News -
ReplyDeleteParking dispute, not bias, triggered triple murder, say NC police
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ReplyDeleteoh nooooo, now Bob is going to hate all atheists, it's their culture dontcha know?:
A quandary. Is Ash merely trying to achieve the vaunted position of 'master-baiter' or is he merely defensive about being an atheist and apparently sharing many of the same anti-theist and 'progressive' views as Mr. Hicks.
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These are deep questions.
DeleteWhat we can see, and immediately, is that Ash is a jerk off.
Whether he is a master bater is up to the Judges.
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ReplyDeleteIs this a reason that justifies removing the upper limit on FISA taxes?
The nation’s old-age pension and disability insurance program is funded by a payroll tax that this year applies to wages of $118,500 and below. But the amount of revenue coming in is not as large as it could be, now thatan increasing share of wage growth is going to people who make more than that, and the wages of many Americans are stagnant, or even in decline. That is adding fiscal stress to a program already struggling with the demands of an aging population.
With more Americans reaching retirement age, Social Security is projected to eat through its funding reserves by 2033, assuming Congress took no action to bolster its finances. If that happened, Social Security trustees have said the program would be taking in only enough money to pay 75 percent of promised benefits—an unthinkable fate for a program that nearly two-thirds of seniors rely on for most of their retirement income.
“Upward redistribution of income in the United States has meant that income has shifted away from the workers whose full earnings are taxed and toward high-income workers whose additional dollars are exempt,” read the report...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/get-there/wp/2015/02/10/how-growing-income-inequality-is-hurting-social-security/?tid=hpModule_79c38dfc-8691-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394&hpid=z14
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ReplyDeleteObama's Request for a new AUMF against ISIS
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Why are we fighting isis when there are 330 MILLION arabs that live there that all sorts of weapons?
ReplyDeleteSaudi Arabia alone just purchased 60 BILLION dollars worth of weapons!
Maybe it's because ISIS is fighting the Shiia mass murder of the Sunni?
Again, why is America doing anything there?
Good question.
DeleteDeuce has said we must do something.
But weak on specifications.
I've said protect the Kurds, otherwise let 'em kill one another...
This is nasty business but a humanitarian mission has bee ruled out by Quirk.
So we're basically shit out of luck, up Shit Creek without a Paddle, can only help the Kurds, around the edges, and might as well sit back and relax for a change, take a vacation to Israel......
I agre, the ONLY thing we should be doing is helping the Kurds defend themselves.
DeleteThey have earned their nationhood and should be allowed to liberate their lands from Arab, Moslem, Turk and Persian ILLEGAL Occupation.
Jack HawkinsWed Feb 11, 12:59:00 PM EST
ReplyDeletePost a link, or reference to the Wharton School, if you can.
Post a link to the Madoff School in tel Aviv...
Go fug yourself, Noble Ash, that was an ignorant silly comment you put up there.
ReplyDeleteJack HawkinsWed Feb 11, 11:30:00 AM EST
ReplyDeleteSodaStream had managed to raise its stock price above $20 per share, but so far , in today's trading ...
It has dropped 5.81%
The value of that corporation has cratered, thanks to the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, or really poor management.
Stock prices go up and down due to speculation among other things.
Cant say that BDS is anything but a load of horse flies… AND now that Sodastream got rid of all it's palestinian workers and moved OUT of the so called "west bank" and into a new, sparkling, modern plant? Great jobs for the Jews of Israel and more and more cost savings.
To bad for those too stupid to buy high and sell low….
As Warren Buffet says… Buy low and hold forever…
:)
Now he invests…
If you want to invest? SodaStream looks very good for the future..
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/19/sodastream-or-coca-cola-what-would-warren-buffet-b.aspx
Looks like a "buy" to me, though I never invest in stocks.
DeleteI like to sleep good at night.
From My Files - the happy ending department:
ReplyDeleteMy old girl friend has a daughter, her only child, who adopted, as the daughter was not able to have children naturally, a kid named Tyler who is a beautiful young man and is wrestling in the finals of the Nevada State wrestling matches.......he is just starting out High School - 145 pound division........
"It's not a true story if it's not a happy yet, Uncle Bob"
Quote from Niece
>>It has been in the 70's here during the day and 50's at night. It's
Deletebreathtaking! Like a gorgeous spring but it's February and it's suppose to be
in the 50's or 60's at best. Crazy! I am fearful of what we will
experience come this July and August. Gregg and I sat outside late yesterday
afternoon. Just plain silly!
Tyler won the Regional Championship in the 145 weight Wrestling category.
Only member from his high school to win. A Freshmen on the Varsity Team.
Very cool. I went to watch his two matches. One at 12 noon and the other
at 6:30 PM. I hate how Wrestling goes all day long. Tyler got there at 7
AM and didn't get to go home till 9 PM. Now he is off this weekend to
state. Sure hope he wins state too. :) <<
:)
Sometimes thing work out ......
So Rufus says if he was "trapped in Gaza" he'd be a member of Hamas.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
If Rufus lived in Syria, and his government, Assad, with the help of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah had murdered 300,000 of his fellow citizens and made 9.5 MILLION into refugees would be JOIN ISIS?
Six Bud Tongue would join up with anybody, given the proper circumstances.....
DeleteHe'll only go where the oil is.
DeleteThat's to say, an emotional evening and the second six pack....
DeleteThen it's OFF TO HAMASLAND
O jesus, o sweet jesus....
Not bad, Noble Ash.
DeleteAnd only if he is 'oiled up'.
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DeleteIf Rufus lived in Syria, and his government, Assad, with the help of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah had murdered 300,000 of his fellow citizens and made 9.5 MILLION into refugees would be JOIN ISIS?
The analogy doesn't play. First, while Assad may be have been the precipitant cause of the war in Syria, assigning 300,000 deaths and millions of refugees to him assumes that the other players there are throwing spitballs, it assumes the same players there are the ones who began the war, it assumes Assad is the only one with surrogates fighting in Syria.
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'Assad surrogates in Syria' is an oxymoron isn't it?
Delete.
DeleteI don't know. Is it? Do you prefer allies?
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Even allies is an odd concept when dealing with forces within your own country, but, ya, that is better than surrogates. Once you are dealing in civil war things get confused quickly.
DeleteTyler is an Hispanic type by the way, from the look of the skin and hair.
ReplyDeleteV E R Y handsome, and I told OGF ........ TROUBLE ON HORIZON !
She confirms: the wimmin are flocking Tyler's way as I type.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Women can cause a young man unending trouble.....
Now we will bow in prayer and ask for the best for this good youth.....
It was a year ago this week that Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook responded to a climate-change heckler at the company's annual shareholder meeting with an impassioned rebuttal in which he famously told investors who care only about profits to "get out of the stock."
ReplyDeleteNow Cook is putting his prodigious sums of money where his mouth is, proclaiming the “biggest, boldest and most ambitious project ever,” an $850 million agreement to buy solar power from First Solar, the biggest U.S. developer of solar farms. The deal will supply enough electricity to power all of Apple’s California stores, offices, headquarters and a data center, Cook said Tuesday at the Goldman Sachs technology conference in San Francisco.
It’s the biggest-ever solar procurement deal for a company that isn't a utility, and it nearly triples Apple’s stake in solar, according to an analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). “The investment amount is enormous,” said Michel Di Capua, head of North American research at BNEF. “This is a really big deal.”
The blueprint
•Cost: $850 million
•Power: Apple will get 130 megawatts, enough to power 60,000 California homes
•Location: First Solar’s California Flats Solar Project in Monterey County
•Contract duration: 25 years
•Footprint: 2,900 acres (12 square kilometers)
•Start date: Middle of this year
•Completion: End of 2016 (in time to take advantage of a 30 percent U.S. tax credit)
•Profitable? Yes, for both, although Apple and First Solar didn’t disclose the deal's full terms
The agreement positions the CEO of the world’s biggest company at the center of the global debate about climate change and the future of energy—a role Cook has increasingly embraced over the past two years. The company has been ramping up its investment in solar, with two . . . . . . . .
Big Deal
Rufus has been right about one thing (thus proving Trish wrong you said, 'Rufus has not ever been right about anything, but he is such a Dear'):
ReplyDelete"Climate Change" is a crock of shit.
Rufus said, in a moment of transcendental clarity :
"It's the WEATHER, stupid."
I call this 'redemption'.
Did anyone notice the latest news about 'fixing the numbers' on "Climate Change" recently?
DeleteWhat we have here is an attempt by a bunch of crooked 'scientists' world wide to fix the numbers, and control the world.
They didn't figure on the Ruf's of the world.
When Ruf gets 'het up' he is unstoppable.
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DeleteTrish was rarely wrong.
:o)
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Indeed.
DeleteMartyrs are never wrong!
DeleteISIS fighters are now numbered at 50,000 + and that ain't counting the hangers on...........
ReplyDeleteTheir support is being underestimated in SunniLand....
'rat
The bombing is gaining them support............
General 'Doofus' Rufus and 'rat Doctrine' EPIC FAIL.
USA "Boots on the ground" is the only way to possibly change this equation...
ReplyDeleteA "new" shiite manned "Iraqi Army" will not change the equation.
"possibly". Now that is an outcome worth betting your life on...
Delete...in Bobs case, it is only his nations blood and treasure on the line as we all know his personal predilections on actually serving himself.
Obama fucked our pooch by taking the troops out too soon.
ReplyDeleteWe lose Afghanistan as well.
That is what you get for voting in a Moslem President.
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DeleteJesus, Bob, you try to perpetuate the myth that the US won Iraq II and you ignore the fact that Bush signed the status of forces agreement that got us out of that dump.
You are an embarrassment.
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.McCain , Lindsay, et al argue it was Petraeus and the 'surge' that saved the day. Pure bullshit.
Kagan and the other neocons try to promote the meme that Bush 'won' Iraq and that Obama 'lost' it. Pure bullshit.
24 ct
DeleteOnce we started bombing, ISIS couldn't even take a little town of 60,000 that sat, basically, right next door to their "Capital."
ReplyDeleteDream on.
DeleteHave another Bud.
I would like to ask:
Do you wish American troops in 'Iraq' :
Yes
No
Choose and let us all read it.
Rufus is, as usual, full of shit.
ReplyDeleteI may be full of shit, but ISIS has left the battlefield in and around Kobane.
ReplyDeleteAs for Combat Ground Forces in Iraq, No. We don't need them.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBrown, Green, Whatever; there are still no Daesh in Kobane - or in the 100 closest villages surrounding it.
DeleteEveryone is entitled to an opinion, but there is only One set of Facts.
AshWed Feb 11, 09:51:00 PM EST
DeleteAre your eyes brown? Oh, green, ... You must be down a pint!
:)
DeleteWhy is Ruf;s eyes one eye green and one eye brown.?
He's a quart low on bullshit today.
Ha ha, hahahahahhaa ha HA
QuirkWed Feb 11, 09:02:00 PM EST
ReplyDelete.
If Rufus lived in Syria, and his government, Assad, with the help of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah had murdered 300,000 of his fellow citizens and made 9.5 MILLION into refugees would be JOIN ISIS?
The analogy doesn't play. First, while Assad may be have been the precipitant cause of the war in Syria, assigning 300,000 deaths and millions of refugees to him assumes that the other players there are throwing spitballs, it assumes the same players there are the ones who began the war, it assumes Assad is the only one with surrogates fighting in Syria.
quirk, the majority of civilian deaths have been attributed to assad and his friends the iranians and hezbollah.
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DeleteDeath and Casualties
Syrian Government:
Syrian government 45,385–80,385 soldiers killed[45][46]
29,943–43,943 militiamen killed[45][46]
1,000 government officials killed[47]
7,000 soldiers and militiamen and 2,000 supporters captured[48]
Hezbollah
640 killed[45]
Other non-Syrian fighters
2,502 killed[45]
Opposition:
63,314–99,314 fighters killed*[45][46]
979 protesters killed[49]
25,500 fighters and supporters captured or missing[45] 5,051–7,891 killed (per SOHR; certain incidents January 2014–January 2015)[50]
4,800+ killed (per SAA; conflict with the Syrian gov. September–December 2014)[51] 956–1,125 fighters killed[52]
68,276[45]–80,058[53] (2,864 foreign) civilian deaths documented by opposition
74 other foreign soldiers killed
Total killed
210,060–295,060 (February 2015 SOHR estimate)**[45]
220,000 (January 2015 UN estimate)**[54]
130,000 captured or missing overall[55]
4.5 million (UN, Sep 2013) – 5.1 million (iDMC, Sep 2013) internally displaced[56][57][58]
Over 3,300,000 refugees (by September 2014)[59][60]
*Number includes Kurdish and ISIL fighters, whose deaths are also listed in their separate columns[45]
**Numbers include foreign fighters from both sides, as well as foreign civilians.
Syrian Civil War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War
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Ben Carson For President
ReplyDelete"What this country needs is a great brain surgeon"
Vote Ben 2016