Syria Loses Its Last Oilfield to Advancing ISIS Forces
Homs Province Advance Also Threatens Key Gas Field
by Jason Ditz, September 07, 2015
A new report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights today reports that fighting in the Homs Province has left ISIS in control of the Jazal oilfield, the last field which had still been under Syrian government control. Jazal is northwest of Tadmur.
The Syrian Army confirmed fighting in the area, but claimed only to have killed 25 rebels, not specifying who they were or admitting to any territorial losses in the incident. Jazal had already been shut down because of the proximity of ISIS forces.
For a once massive oil-exporter, this is just the latest in a string of major losses, which has left them with only a fraction of the country’s territory, and with very limited energy resources, a problem which makes their ongoing civil war look all the worse.
Making matters even more grim for Syrian forces, the loss of Jazal puts ISIS even closer to the nation’s major natural gas field, and adds to concerns that ISIS could be putting the military on the brink of collapse with their recent territory losses.
Germany could take 500,000 refugees each year for “several years”, the country’s vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, has said, as fresh clashes broke out overnight between police and refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos and thousands of people gathered amid chaotic scenes on the Greek border with Macedonia.
ReplyDelete“I believe we could surely deal with something in the order of half a million for several years,” he told ZDF public television. “I have no doubt about that, maybe more.” Germany expects to receive 800,000 asylumseekers this year, four times the total for 2014.
Authorities in Lesbos struggle to cope with numbers of refugees – in pictures
View gallery
Gabriel also stressed that other European countries must also accept their fair share as refugees flee war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa and head for the EU.
As Greece struggled to cope with an influx of refugees – many from war-ravaged Syria – Donald Tusk, the EU president, warned that the refugee “exodus” could last for years. ”The wave of migration is not a one-time incident but the beginning of a real exodus, which only means that we will have to deal with this problem for many years to come,” he said.
In Lesbos, where 15,000 refugees are stranded, about a dozen coastguards and riot police armed with batons struggled overnight to control about 2,500 migrants in the island’s main port as crowds surged towards a government-chartered ferry bound for Athens.
On Monday, more than 3,000 newcomers, most brought in on cruise ships from Lesbos, arrived in Athens’s port of Pireaus, according to authorities. The Red Cross has set up medical facilities in a central square in the capital where it handed out food and water to new arrivals.
They are fighting in Lesbos ?
ReplyDeleteThis is really really bad news, I like the old Lesbos of Greek mythology.
Just don't let them park in Boise, Idaho.
Sincerely, I don't know what to do with all these assholes.
ReplyDeleteI just don't want them in USA.
Let them float around the Med......
Philly, Detroit.....naw....I would not wish that on you........
A Ph.D student from India is an entirely different matter...
"The ones in the middle east are the worst, Uncle Bob"
The assholes are in Washington. I can’t tell you how many posts have been put up on the entire destabilization of the ME as US foreign policy. This was so predictable criminal irresponsibility and staggering incompetence. All done in our name.
ReplyDeleteIran owns this mess...
DeleteThe very fact you cannot say it?
Proves you cannot see anything.
That being said, that Iran owns this shit fest, the destabilization of the arab middle east is Karma on crack.
DeleteSuicide bombers, IEDs, checkpoints, sectarian violence all are tells about the cultures of the arabs.
Fatah verses Hamas, Moslem Brotherhood, Islamic Jihad, Fatah el-islam, ISIS? ISIL? Alquds force, Sadr MIlitias?
LOL
Shits verses the Suns.
Nothing new here. Just finally directed at each other....
And yep, Israel is not to blame, just living in a shitty neighborhood, The madness of inter-arab fighting will not end anytime soon one can only watch as they self destruct on a scale not seen since ww2...
Tens of millions of real refugees, with real starvation and problems (unlike the gazans or the west bank arabs) have over taken the conversation.
No one, with any knowledge of the region, gives two shits about Israel and 100 square miles of disputed lands, when complete nations are disintegrating, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and more. The screeds coming out of the West Bank by Abbas (now serving his 10th year of a 4 year term), BDS and Hamas are nonsense.
Syrian fathers are selling their kids into sex slavery to save their lives. Arabs are being lined up in ditches and mass executed by BOTH Assad (and Hezbollah and Iran) and ISIS.....
Yeah no one with a brain gives a shit about whether Christian PRIVATE Schools in Israel get enough funding...
Sorry Deuce, you and your pals, the Hamas, Iranians, Syria and Hezbollah own this real crisis...
How many millions will be moving into europe?
LOL
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ReplyDeleteThe US has a moral obligation and responsibility to accept many more than the nominal 1500 refugees we have agreed to. Of course, the chances of it happening are probably just barely north of nil.
That obligation is based on our responsibility for helping create the current situation there. The chain of evidence is clear and it starts with GWB and the neocons. I thought they would slink away after the FUBAR they created in Iraq. But now they are back still spouting the same criminal inanities that have failed so many times in the past.
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There are over 3 dozen islamic nations.
DeleteThey can take the refugees in.
Iran has created the situation. Iran can take in refugees.
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DeleteThe US has a moral obligation and responsibility to accept many more than the nominal 1500 refugees we have agreed to. Of course, the chances of it happening are probably just barely north of nil.
That obligation is based on our responsibility for helping create the current situation there. The chain of evidence is clear and it starts with GWB and the neocons. I thought they would slink away after the FUBAR they created in Iraq. But now they are back still spouting the same criminal inanities that have failed so many times in the past.
.
Right on.
DeleteAmerica, since 2000, has taken in over 1 million moslem refugees.
DeleteThere are dozens of moslem nations that have taken in none...
Nonsense, Quirk.
DeleteWhat moral obligation ?
When these Syrian 'refugee's arrive in Boise, I do not expect them to incorporate into our decent society, like, say, the Basques.
We have lots of Basques in Idaho......in the early days they ran sheep in the hills.......each year in Idaho there is a Basque Festival...music, dancing, food.....all wonderfully peaceful...
The Basque language is unlike any other in Europe......it is totally foreign to the Indo-Eurppean group of languages...it is interesting....no one knows where it comes from.....
Wonderful people.......they have never blown up a Cafeteria here yet.....
Colin Powell warned Bush before the Iraq war: “If you break it you own it.”
DeleteUnfortunately, the US is not owning up to this mess.
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DeleteAmerica, since 2000, has taken in over 1 million moslem refugees.
Where did you get that number? I have not been able to approximate it.
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It looks like Blumental, and Peters (a little surprise, here, I think) are on board with Peace.
ReplyDeleteAppeasing Iran does not lead to Peace.
DeleteIt will lead to war.
Oh that's right, you think Iran with nukes is peace...
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ReplyDeleteThree more democrats have signed on to the Iranian nuclear deal including Gary Peters.
Peters is a surprise to me. I can only speculate that since the deal is going to pass anyway, he figures it is not worth it to get on the bad side of Obama at this point. Probably wise political calculation.
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Wyden got religion, and came on board.
ReplyDeleteSleazy-assed Manchin is a not, but it doesn't matter, since he said he'd vote for cloture, anyway.
If Cantwell comes on board, it will give the Dems an outside chance of filibustering, and avoiding having to use a veto.
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ReplyDeleteThis will be an interesting month for the Palestinians.
1. In a few weeks, the PLO will be holding leadership elections. Abbas is trying to get Hamas to participate in the elections to give the elections legitimacy. Chances Hamas will go along? Slim. (Abbas doesn't have enough of what Hamas wants or that he is willing to give.)
2. Abbas has told Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan that he will be resigning from his leadership role in stages. The first, with the PLO, then with Fatah, and finally with the PA. He indicated new leadership is being groomed.
There is some speculation that he is doing this in order to embarrass Israel. I don't see how since the guy is 80 years old; however, that was the point of a couple of articles in the Times of Israel
Chances of Abbas actually retiring? Slim.
3. There is additional speculation that Abbas will tell the UN that the PA is pulling out of the Oslo Accords and request a vote recognizing a Palestinian State. Chances of him doing this? I would say pretty good.
I'd would base this opinion on the fact that the accords were dead a long time ago and lock Palestinians into an untenable situation; that the current government of Israel, ie Bibi, has said there is no chance of a two-state solution; plus the other steps the PA has been taking, the reconciliation attempts with Hamas, the observer state status at the UN, the request to fly the Palestinian flag at the UN.
The PA seems to have come to the same conclusion as Israel, the peace talks are dead and not worth pursuing further. After the Israeli reaction to the Palestinian unity agreement, the PA has been pursuing an alternate track depending on the UN and world opinion to force a two-state solution.
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The UN "force" a solution?
DeleteGet real.
They can't even get the moslem nations to define terrorism.
And thanks to Iran (and the Arabs themselves)?
The arab world is imploding.
And with any good luck?
So will the Fakistinians.
I wonder where all the gazans will go?
Maybe Guam?
DeleteOr Philadelphia? Or better yet?
Detroit!!!!
Detroit !
DeleteIf Quirk won't go to Gaza, bring Gaza to Quirk !
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DeleteOnce again, WiO, you prove you haven't got a clue about the situation in Israel, well, other than what you read in your daily talking points.
If the Palestinians were to abrogate the Oslo Accords and turn all governance of the occupied territories back to Israel, Israel would be in a world of hurt. The commander of the IDF southern district recently put it succinctly (though not in these exact words), Hamas is a pain in the ass but they serve a purpose. One, they control the Salafists and keep them out of Gaza. Two, Israel is not in any position to govern Gaza and he went on giving his reasons for saying so. In the West Bank, Israel would have to take over the policing and security function currently being handled by the PA plus a lot of the other functions they currently handle. The costs would be substantial.
I wonder where all the gazans will go?
:o)
The Gazans aren't going anywhere.
Now, you can say Israel can just force them out. The same for the West Bank. If Israel were to do it, they would quickly learn how dependent they are on world opinion and support.
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Quirk you are such a checker player in a chess world…
DeleteOf course, Israel is not going to force anyone out of their homes, after all they are not arabs…
You have been reading and believing the crap talk of the Israel haters too much, even in 1948 and 1967 Israel never "FORCED" arabs from their homes…
But will happen to the arabs living in the arab occupied lands of the west bank and gaza? The same thing as the arabs living in syria, yemen, libya and iraq!!!
israel doesn't have to DO anything.. except wait…
The Fakistinians are the most self destructive arabs in the region. Look what they have done in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria!
Of course you will find fault and reject everything I say, but the reality will speak otherwise
6 years ago I said that Europe will get it's karma rewards because of the arabs. And today? It's happening…
One can only hope that your settlement, oh I mean neighborhood, is filled with arab refugees!
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DeleteOf course you will find fault and reject everything I say...
True.
For the reasons I have stated here often.
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Don't give yourself so much credit.
DeleteYou are a closed minded fool…
Your reasons?
Are nonsense.
Just because you repeat them often doesn't mean they still are not nonsense, just often repeated nonsense.
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ReplyDeleteDemocrats have enough Senate votes to stifle Iran opposition
Blumenthal, Peters and Wyden had long been considered possible opponents of the deal given the opposition of the Israeli government and significant elements of the American Jewish community. Blumenthal and Wyden are Jewish, and Peters has close ties to Michigan's Jewish leadership; all have made comments critical of the deal since its announcement in July.
But all three said in separate statements Tuesday that the deal negotiated by President Obama in conjunction with international allies is, while imperfect, the best path forward.
“While this is not the agreement I would have accepted at the negotiating table, it is better than no deal at all," Blumenthal said.
"This agreement with the duplicitous and untrustworthy Iranian regime falls short of what I had envisioned, however I have decided the alternatives are even more dangerous," Wyden wrote.
Said Peters, "Despite my serious concerns with this agreement, I have unfortunately become convinced that we are faced with no viable alternative."
Manchin is the fourth Senate Democrat to oppose the deal, following Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Ben Cardin (Md.). One senator, Maria Cantwell (Wash.), has not yet announced her position.
Manchin said in a statement that he "could not ignore the fact that Iran, the country that will benefit most from sanctions being lifted, refuses to change its 36-year history of sponsoring terrorism. ... I cannot gamble our security, and that of our allies, on the hope that Iran will conduct themselves differently than it has for the last 36 years."
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POS Coons said he would support the deal, but would not support a filibuster. That means, the Dems need Cantwell (she would be # 42) to have a chance at avoiding cloture, and the need for a veto.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteHeckler v Cheney
The only reason I put up this video is because of the woman doing the protesting. I was quite impressed that a woman, a young, pretty small woman not only forced her way on stage but that she single handed took on 4 or 5 of Cheney's security goons and held onto her banner despite some asshole from the audience trying to wrestle it away from her.
I don't illegal protests in general but I was kind of impressed with this girls spunk.
You go girl.
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DeleteMore impressive if you go full screen.
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I notice that Code Pink hasn't protested ONE drone strike by Obama…
DeleteThe Silence is deafening
pics of Basques in Idaho -
ReplyDeletehttps://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrT6VsDNO9VBFMANGMnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Basques+In+Idaho&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002
They have never blown up the Community Center or the Cafeteria yet.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_American
DeleteNice people.
These are a people one can live with and learn to love....
DeleteNo Syrians, please...
Kind of like Hindus or Jews in their way.......one can feel totally comfortable around them...
DeleteYou are such a twit Bob - a bigot through and through.
DeleteFunny Ash, I have never heard you condemn the Moslem world for being real bigots towards Jews.
Deletemany of them are but they don't post their crap here so I have no reason to point it out to them.
DeleteUp yours, Ash.
DeleteI like the Hindus, the Jews, the Basques of Idaho....not one has ever threatened me or my kind....nor have any of them stoned women to death.....
And finally drop the 'it's all Bush's fault' craparoo...
DeleteYour guy has been running the show for the last seven years.....
The 'Syrian Problem' ?
I think the Syrians at fault....
Final left jab....
DeleteYou are a certified moron, Noble Ash.
By the way, why are you not 'standing up for Hillary' these days ?
C'mon, get on your feet, liberal Ash, Noble Ash, thoughtless Ash, and make a fool out of yourself.....Stand Up For Hillary !
ha ha ha
Quirk: If Israel were to do it, they would quickly learn how dependent they are on world opinion and support.
ReplyDeleteWorld opinion and support is overrated.
Countless times world opinion and support was not to be found…
I remember when Hamas launched ten thousand rockets at Israel and kidnapped and murdered 3 Israeli teenagers….
The world was silent on that but didn't not have a shortage of opinions or support for the criminals aka the Hamas.
So please Quirk, don't take this the wrong way….
Take your world opinions and your world support? Shove it where the sun doesn't shine.
:)
Now you have a nice day.
QuirkTue Sep 08, 04:01:00 PM EDT
ReplyDelete.
Once again, WiO, you prove you haven't got a clue about the situation in Israel, well, other than what you read in your daily talking points.
Was that your attempt to be witty?
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DeleteNot at all. I was being perfectly serious.
Everything you say seems to come from some talking points you have read. You don't seem to know anything about Israel. Your 'facts' seem to come from sites like debkafile.com and your history from sites like mythsandfacts.org. Your knowledge is completely superficial. I have know doubt you know more about the Jewish religion that others here but you don't seem to have any appreciation for the political dimension of religion in Israel. You spout off about the Oslo Accords all the time but it was just a couple of days ago you proved you don't know shit about the basics of the agreement and Areas A, B, and C.
Above, you talk about 10,000 rockets (it was more like 4500 by the way) and the kidnapping of the three Israeli kids, but you ignore the weeks of Israeli provocations leading up to them. You also ignore the two weeks after the kidnappings when Israel already knew the boys were dead yet put a gag order on that knowledge, two weeks they used to round up hundreds of Hamas members and supporters in the West Bank, two weeks which bibi used to whip up Israeli public opinion to support action against Hamas, two weeks in which he left the families of the three boys in anguish holding out hope their kids were alive.
Believe me. I was perfectly serious.
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DeleteI've provided plenty of links documenting this stuff before but you continue to ignore the facts.
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You have not replied to my Thought Experiment, Mr Serious.
DeleteGet serious now....
In the best interests of your daughter.....would you rather have her grow up and live in
Israel....or Gaza
Israel....or Iran
Israel...or Syria
Israel....................................or Detroit....
Quirk postulates:
ReplyDeleteIf the Palestinians were to abrogate the Oslo Accords and turn all governance of the occupied territories back to Israel, Israel would be in a world of hurt.
Who is to say that Israel would accept it?
Today in Israel the attitude is clear. If the Palestinians clearly reject the peace process (even more than they already have)
Annex any and all areas of disputed lands that Israel wants and let the rest of those lands, inhabited by un-governable folks, be on their own…
Of course, it would de-evolve into syria or yemen, a humanitarian situation would develop pretty quickly, all the decent folks would flee… And what would be left? Hamas, Jidahists and Safaists…
Let the games begin.
Of course, Israel could actually occupy those areas and clean them out of terrorists…
Like a proper occupation….
Just as America how to occupy a nation….
Some of the neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan could use some occupation by Federal Troops so they don't continue to kill one another on a daily basis, but that is another subject.
DeleteChicago, Philly, and Baltimore, Maryland too...
DeleteThe count of the dead in some of our cities exceeds the count of the dead Americans in Afghanistan......
DeleteStill much less, not even close, than the 80 Million Hindu dead from muzz aggression in the subcontinent though....
DeleteAnd if you want to see a real horror show, visit the morgue site for Las Vegas, Nevada.....
DeleteGo to 'unclaimed dead' -----
And these are not the bodies dumped in the desert....
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DeleteToday in Israel the attitude is clear. If the Palestinians clearly reject the peace process (even more than they already have)
Annex any and all areas of disputed lands that Israel wants and let the rest of those lands, inhabited by un-governable folks, be on their own…
-----------------------------
Of course, Israel could actually occupy those areas and clean them out of terrorists…
Like a proper occupation….
As I've said before, WiO, you are a silly little man.
There is no way Israel could just leave a very large no-man's land on their doorstep without inviting every terrorist known to man. The security situation would be untenable. The costs unbearable. No, it's pretty much all or nothing.
As to annexing the territories, they have been slowly doing that for the past 45 years with every new settlement block and and every new land use restriction on the Palestinians. The problem is if they wanted to annex the territories they should have done it 45 years ago. The would have been a lot of bitching and complaining at the time but with other things going on, Vietnam, China, the Cold War, they might have just pulled it off and it probably would have been forgotten at this time, well at least by most of the world if not the Arabs. However, that time has passed.
If the Palestinians declare the Oslo Accords dead and demand a Palestinian state, it will be embarrassing for Israel. The US might still hold off UN action but it is getting harder all the time. Now, if the PA says that it is up the Israel to administer the territories, Israel's options are limited. You say Israel could refuse to do it. Could they? Again it would be embarrassing. Could they annex the territories? Of course. But they would have world opinion against them and maybe more. BDS is just a pin prick at the moment but what if it expands to sanctions? Bad, especially as the new administration and security costs incurred would be stretching Israel to the limit. And that is strictly the WB. The IDF has said there is no way Israel can govern Gaza.
Of course, Israel could actually occupy those areas and clean them out of terrorists…
Again, you show the vacuity of your thinking. The costs have been mentioned already. However, if Israel resorts to mass deportations where would they deport them to. Mass incarcerations. Same problems. In the end, even the US will be unable to rationalize their unwavering support of Israel.
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You are living in a dream world.
DeleteThe people of Gaza and the West Bank will flee the armed conflict of their brothers...
Just like in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and more..
Once the population has been reduced (like syria) armed conflict will be much easier.
As for the US unwavering support?
The American people support Israel, Obama and his administration? Not so much.
That is why after Obama refused to resupply munitions, Israel has moved to domestic manufacturing of essential munitions.
Israel will not have to do any mass deportations or incarcerations.
All Israel has to do is all the Fakistianians to start the same smack down on their own that they are doing in Syria...
The other day my neighbour, who is blonde, came running up to me in the driveway just jumping for joy! I didn't know why she was jumping for joy. I thought, what the heck, and I starting jumping up and down along with her.
ReplyDeleteShe said, “Sally, I have some really great news!"
I said, "Great. Tell me why you're so happy."
She stopped jumping and, breathing heavily from all the jumping up and down, told me that she was pregnant!
I knew that she had been trying for a while so I told her, "That's great! I couldn't be happier for you!"
Then she said, "There's more."
I asked, "What do you mean 'more'?"
She said, "Well, we are not having just one baby. We are going to have twins
Amazed at how she could know so soon after gettingpregnant, I asked her how she knew. She said...
“That was the easy part. I went to ALDI and they actually had a home pregnancy kit in a twin-pack. Both tests came out positive!”
:)
DeleteI always love a dumb blonde joke....
Cantwell announces; makes 42.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats might be able to prevent cloture. Maybe not. :)
Democrats are on the wrong side of history.
DeleteAppeasing the Mullahs of Iran, allowing the sanctions to be lifted, encouraging the legitimizing of the Islamic Republic is suicide.
The people will not forget.
And Hillary, the criminal, continues to plunge in the polls......
DeleteO o o.....
DeleteIMMUNITY FOR CLINTON AIDE...
FEDS SHIFT 50 STAFF TO EMAILS.......Drudge
O o o
Her crimes may be 'coming home to roost'.....
Quirk, IIRC, was once thinking 'seriously' of casting his vote for the corruptocrat...
Trey Gowdy
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA thoughtful move, to be sure..
DeleteGiven the political circumstances, and the inborn inclination of everyone one of us to be concerned about our social reputations.......
DeleteIf the Palestinians declare the Oslo Accords dead and demand a Palestinian state, it will be embarrassing for Israel.
ReplyDeleteHardly, it will be what the 4th time the Fakisitinians have declared a State.
It's getting to be a joke...
As I've said before, WiO, you are a silly little man.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have said before you are a pompous old fool...
Maybe if you spent more time on the actual issues and not trying so hard to personally insult me you might learn something.
doubtful
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DeleteYou probably don't see the irony in your statement.
But as for my insulting you, it's called counter-punching. To gain a little personal insight, you might want to scan through the posts above where we respond to each others posts just to see where the conversation started going south. Long before we got to the point of
As I've said before, WiO, you are a silly little man.
we have you offering up these gems.
You are a closed minded fool…
Your reasons?
Are nonsense.
and
Take your world opinions and your world support? Shove it where the sun doesn't shine.
My. My. What language.
.
I think he is right.
DeleteThat is to say, WiO is right.
DeleteQuirk can go meditate seriously about voting for Hillary if he chooses to do so.
Or he can come to the Basque Festival in Boise, Idaho and do some dancing...
http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/boise-goes-basque-during-san-inazio-festival/Content?oid=1119206
Along with all the rest of us.....
Give the old fart a little break from the gunfire in Detroit, Michigan...
DeleteA "Democratic" stronghold...
Delete"Too much gunfire leads the mind to wandering"
In Boise, during the Festival, the food is great....the dancing wonderful.....
DeleteNow for some good news...
ReplyDeleteAssad of Syria, with Iran, Hezbollah and Russia have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Assad has even used real starvation to murder palestinians in one specific camp...
LOL
But some how quirk is concerned if the same shit breaks out in gaza and a million gazans flee into egypt, some how Israel will have it's hand tied in dealing with the new Somalia-like landscape on it's border.
The BEST thing Israel can do? Is sit and wait for the great uncivil war coming to the fakistinians...
The great Arab winter is coming to gaza and what the ignorant call it: the "west bank"
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete.
DeleteThe BEST thing Israel can do? Is sit and wait for the great uncivil war coming to the fakistinians..
They have been waiting. For around 45 years. Although, to be honest, based on the settlement expansion they do seem to be getting a little impatient with the waiting.
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