COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Since June, the Islamic State has captured half of Iraq and one-third of Syria and operates an Islamic caliphate armed with US weapons

Two interesting reports you will not hear from most US Media:


It May Be Too Late to Do Anything:


Islamic extremists seize base, behead soldiers

ROY GUTMAN AND MOUSAB ALHAMADEE

Last updated 12:16 25/08/2014
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Islamic extremists have captured a major government military airport in Raqqa, eastern Syria, completing their takeover of the entire province and dealing a humiliating blow to President Bashar Assad.
The victory is further evidence that the Islamic State is determined to widen its grip on the region. Since it launched its assaults in June, the Islamic State has captured half of Iraq and one-third of Syria and operates an Islamic caliphate armed with US weapons and financed by booty seized during its lightning raids.
The official Syrian news agency Sunday evening conceded the loss of the Tabka military base with a terse and euphemistic report that said Syrian forces had performed "a successful regrouping after evacuating" the airport.
Journalist Rafik Lutf, who is close to the Assad regime, earlier reported the loss of the airport and the death of about 150 troops.
An official of the conquering Islamic State said the group seized control after a four-day battle, in which 78 Islamic State fighters were killed and 240 wounded.
Anti-government activists in the Raqqa area said the Syrian army flew combat aircraft from Tabka to Deir al Zour in eastern Syria and to another major desert base, and that 20 vehicles full of Syrian troops were seen driving out of the base.
The casualties may be a good deal higher. An Islamic State official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not an authorised Islamic State spokesman, said the regime had stationed 873 soldiers on the base.
The Islamic State, which last week executed American journalist James Foley and circulated a video showing his decapitation, reportedly beheaded a number of captured Syrian soldiers Sunday and put their severed heads on display in the city of Raqqa. The Raqqa Media Center, an anti-government opposition group, published a photo of a one soldier's head.
The regime, meanwhile, stepped up its bombardment of Raqqa, and opposition sources said the victims of its bombs Sunday included civilians who had gone to the center of Raqqa to see the severed heads on display.
In contrast to Islamic State's treatment of Foley, a different Islamist fighting group, the Nusra Front, released another American civilian after holding him for two years. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the return of a man he identified as Peter Theo Curtis from "the clutches of Jabhat al Nusra," an al-Qaeda affiliate that the U.S. lists as a terrorist organization.
Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television network, called Curtis a journalist. His family later revealed that he was born Theophilus Eaton Padnos but after publishing a book about his undercover exploits in Yemen, changed his name to Theo Curtis so he could continue travelling in the Arab world. It's not clear if Curtis, whose book, "Undercover Muslim: A Journey into Yemen," published in Britain, had any journalistic affiliation.
Islamic State' capture of Tabka was clearly an embarrassment to the Assad regime, for it came just five weeks after Assad pledged publicly to recover the entire province.
"Although we have made great achievements in our war against terrorism in the past period, we have not forgotten and will not forget our beloved 'Raqqa,' which, God willing, we will soon rid of the terrorists," he said as he began another term as president after national elections held in only regime-held parts of the country.
But for more than a year, Assad withheld attacking the stronghold as the Islamic extremists, and allowed its leaders to raise their black flags over the government center, take over the courts and schools and operate like a state within a state. Islamic State turned the town of Raqqa into its capital and the province into a sanctuary for its fighters, a base for ferrying men, arms and supplies back and forth to Iraq and a launching pad for its June attacks into neighbouring Iraq.
With the loss of the base, Assad's options are diminished, and if he seeks to regain control, he'll have to divert significant military resources from other fronts where his forces are attacking fighters of the US-backed Free Syrian Army.
It will be all the more difficult, for Islamic State captured an enormous arsenal of weapons after its attack on Mogul, Iraq, in early June.

The Islamic State offensive relied on its familiar tactic of deploying suicide bombers to break open entrances into the well-fortified base. Suicide bombers were deployed for three days running, but on Sunday, the operations commander, identified as Al Dagestani, used the tactic to blow open a gap in the fortifications to the south of the base, which allowed regime troops to escape, the Islamic State official said.

107 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. If this is where we are after a decade, the only possible solution would be to go completely Roman. We are not going to do that.

      All sorts of lessons are out there for the learning. Will we? Lesson #1 for me is to have a military leadership able to distinguish Fallujah from Mayberry, for whom "arresting" means a bullet to the center of mass. A lot of good kids were killed and maimed when sent on suicide missions to reach hearts and minds.

      Delete
  2. It gets worse
    Libyan capital under Islamist control after Tripoli airport seized
    Operation Dawn captures airport in fierce fighting against pro-government militias after five-week siege in the capital
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    Chris Stephen, and Anne Penketh
    The Guardian, Sunday 24 August 2014 12.07 EDT


    Libya has lurched ever closer to fragmentation and civil war this weekend after Islamist-led militias seized the airport in the capital, Tripoli, proclaimed their own government, and presented the world with yet another crisis.

    Operation Dawn, a coalition of Islamist and Misrata forces, captured the airport on Saturday in fierce fighting against pro-government militias after a five-week siege that battered parts of the capital.

    Television images from the scene showed jubilant, bearded, militias dancing on wrecked airliners, firing machine guns in the air and chanting "Allah O Akbar" ("God is great").

    On Sunday, they set airport buildings ablaze, apparently intending to destroy rather than hold the site.

    The victory, which secures Islamist control over Tripoli, was a culmination of weeks of fighting triggered by elections in July, lost by Islamist parties.

    Rather than accept the elections result Islamist leaders in Libya accused the new parliament of being dominated by supporters of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and have sought to restore the old national congress.

    "The general national congress will hold an emergency meeting in Tripoli to save the country," said Omar Ahmidan, a congress spokesman.

    Libya's official parliament, the house of representatives, in the eastern city of Tobruk, denounced the attack as illegal, branding Dawn a "terrorist organisation" and announcing a state of war against the group. The move leaves Libya with two governments, one in Tripoli, and one in the east of the country, each battling for the hearts and minds of the country's myriad militias.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The rat says things are going swimmingly there.

      Libya was an active terrorist threat against US interest in Europe.

      Nonsense, after 9/11 US/Libyan relations became normalized. In 2003, Ghadafi renounced terrorism outright and stopped supporting it. It may be he did it out of self-interest but he did it. In 2006, he gave up his nuclear ambitions. The same year, Bush said he was a partner in the WOT. Condi Rice called him someone we could work with. That was the year Libya was taken off the US terrorist list. There is no doubt a disjointed Libya is currently a bigger threat to US interest and allies in Europe now than before Ghadafi was taken out.

      Ghadafi was not a military threat to the US.

      Had been assigned responsibility for attacks against US personnel and civilian aircraft.

      Old news. The comment reflects 20th Century thinking.

      The 'weapons' in the Colonel's arsenal were an active threat. Those weapons, now dispersed, are no longer a strategic threat.

      No longer a strategic threat? Libya was never a strategic threat to the US. In the good old days, when Ghadafi did support terrorism, the only reason he did it was because he had no other choice what with his arsenal being so meager.

      It was easy to gin up reasons to attack Libya. Being a military threat to the US wasn't one of the,

      The move leaves Libya with two governments, one in Tripoli, and one in the east of the country, each battling for the hearts and minds of the country's myriad militias.

      Sounds eerily like the status quo ante the 2011 war.

      .

      Delete
    2. "Normalized"

      Senseless word, one that reaches for straw that are not there.
      The was nothing "normal" about the US's acquiescence to terrorism.

      Delete
  3. OOrahs all around for the mission accomplished mother fuckers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We have one seriously fucked up foreign policy. You can’t make this shit up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and McCain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. What?

      Obama's foreign policy is much like that which you advocate - isolationism, staying the hell out.

      Bring the troops home, all of them, now......

      The result is what you see.....

      Delete
    2. Listen stupid. Things change. We never should have been involved beyond punishing the Saudis and destroying the camps in Afghanistan. We had no clue about what we were getting into.There is no popular support by Muslims for ISIS.If you could read and comprehend what you read instead of parroting your doctrinaire Neocon bullshit, you may have noticed the title of the post and what ISIS accomplished since June/:half of Iraq and one-third of Syria.

      Delete
  6. Libya will soon be a part of Egypt.

    As for Syria, nothing's changed.

    And, ISIS? They're ours, any time we want them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ISIS is still just a bunch of thugs running around the desert with no air cover.

      Delete
    2. .

      :o)

      It's time you joined the other military geniuses here, Obumble. Henceforth, you too shall be called general.

      .

      Delete
  7. I was going to do one of my occasional rants about our brilliant campaign in Kosovo, but you caught my attention. I wish I were as sanguine about this as you. We are in some deep shit here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Took the troops home way too soon. No ability in the air.

      ISIS wouldn't have gotten out of Syria.

      All Obama's fault...

      Delete
    2. I just don't see it, Deuce. We took a couple of drones, and a handful of F-18's, coupled with a hundred or two Peshmerga, equipped with old Kalashnikovs, and not much else, and pushed those ISIS that were in the wrong place around like teacups on a wet tabletop.

      Delete
    3. All Bush’s fault and his Neocon handlers. Obama just got in for the clusterfuck part. We put the troops in the wrong place for the wrong reason. We enabled these assholes by little things such as sending home a 400,000 man army with their guns and no pay. Then we fired the Sunni civil service and hanging Saddam.

      Delete
  8. ISIS is a Video Game with head hackers. These guys are rock stars. We need to annihilate a decent chuck of these guys. Trap them and as Allen said Go Roman on them. They have the big MO and we have O. Not good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Replies
    1. I believe, right now, Obama thinks he's the luckiest man alive. A military engineer couldn't build a battlefield more inline with what Obama has in mind.

      Delete
    2. Obama is a market timer? You think?

      Delete
    3. Probably more like "shithouse lucky."

      Everyone wanted to get rid of Assad, anyway - and, he's toast.

      Iran has good reason, right now, to try to work a deal with Obama - that's a plus.

      And the one-eyed Jack, ISIS, is a crazy bunch of motherfuckers that will be severely limited in the amount of people that it can draw in.

      Delete
    4. If I were Obama, I'd check on extending my leased house in Martha's Vineyard for another week.

      Delete
    5. Taking out IS will be easy peasy?

      Lordy, save us from more Bush like hubris!

      Delete
  10. I believe the gentleman's assessment that supporting Assad will be a positive development and end the killing in Syria is wishful thinking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let us be clear. Assad and his killing machine, Hezbollah, are nothing more than Iranian proxies.

      ISIS is and was a reaction to the Iranian takeover of Iraq.

      Now ISIS has morphed into a nasty player the world is noticing, but in the end, Iran has murdered more Americans directly than any other player in the modern world.

      SO Syria which has killed almost 200,000 civilians intentionally, displaced close to 8-9 million people is getting violent push back from the newly formed ISIS. Who have murdered about 5,000...

      Are ISIS's beheadings any worse than Hamas's executions of 18 palestinians just last week? Or Iranians burying 17 year old girl up to their neck for the death penalty using stoning? Or Hanging women and gays from construction cranes?

      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.

      Yep ISIS sucks, Hezbollah sucks, Iran sucks, Hamas sucks and even Turkey which murdered 1.2 MILLION Armenians suck...

      My suggestion?

      Make middle eastern oil worthless....

      Delete
    2. Again, "O"rdure makes a worthless suggestion about how to 'deal' with another Israeli "Black Op" gone 'bad'.

      Delete
  11. I didn’t say it would end the killing, no more than helping Stalin kill the Nazis helped turn Russia into Disneyland. Your team was giving bombing support to ISIS and your new best friends the Saudis were supplying them with cash and arms. ISIS needs to be destroyed using whoever and whatever.

    ReplyDelete
  12. All that idiotic Obama "Arab Spring" rhetorical bullshit in the beginning touched much of this crap off too.

    He wanted the MB to run Egypt.

    It spread.

    If he had just gone straight from the 1st Inaugural straight off to the golf course and had stayed there for the last six years all would be well.

    ReplyDelete
  13. It was just after midnight on July 4 when at least two dozen U.S. Delta Force commandos arrived on heavily armed Black Hawk helicopters in Akrishi, a small town near the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa on the bank of the Euphrates River.

    Before they landed to search for American hostages including journalist James Foley, they destroyed a crucial target: anti-aircraft weapons at a jihadist base about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of the city, a stronghold of militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now simply known as the Islamic State.

    The above account and other details of the raid have emerged from witnesses who spoke with a member of a Syrian opposition activist group, who identified himself as Abu Ibrahim al Raqaoui. Raqaoui told the information to Reuters in an interview via Skype from inside Syria.

    His group also posted witness accounts of the raid on Facebook soon after it took place. The posts, which were viewed by Reuters, have since been taken down.

    "The raid happened just after midnight," Raqaoui said. "The helicopters first started destroying anti-aircraft weapons." Reuters could not verify the account.

    The White House publicized details of the raid on Wednesday, a day after Islamic State jihadists posted a video showing Foley being beheaded. The White House said the commandos failed to find Foley or other hostages and that it was prompted to make the announcement after several U.S. news organizations learned of the operation.

    The U.S. military incursion into the heart of Islamic State territory, made on U.S. Independence Day, ended in disappointment when the soldiers found no prisoners.

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
  14. {...}

    Burned the camp

    After landing, the commandos blocked the main road to Raqqa and moved toward a makeshift jail believed to hold Foley and other hostages, Raqaoui said. Discovering Foley wasn't there, they attacked the base, which the militants had named "Bin Laden", after the former al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, Raqaoui said. They lit it on fire, he said.

    "According to villagers, they burned the camp and killed all the ISIS fighters," he said, using one of the acronyms that refer to the Islamic State.

    U.S. officials said "many" Islamic State fighters were killed and one American soldier was wounded when a helicopter came under fire. Raqaoui's account puts the number of wounded U.S. soldiers at two.

    The mission was authorized by President Barack Obama and based on U.S. intelligence, including information from hostages who have been released, the administration said. U.S. officials would not confirm that it was on July 4.

    It was first direct ground engagement between the United States and Islamic State militants, and the first known U.S. ground operation in Syria since the start of its civil war in 2011.

    The raid's failure to bring hostages home underscores the limits of U.S. intelligence about Syria's chaotic conflict.

    “We believed we had a good case for where they might be," said one U.S. official who declined to be identified.

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
  15. Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  16. Militants tipped off

    A Syrian source close to the Islamic State told Reuters that the militants had been tipped off to the planned operation when Americans were seen asking about the hostages in the Turkish city of Antakya, about 12 miles (20 km) from the Syrian border.

    "The Americans were looking for their hostages and desperately looking for any information," said this person, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

    "They met people in Antakya and asked questions. Afterwards, the operation became expected. The (Islamic) State anticipated the operation and took precautions. They expected it and that is why they have probably changed the location of the hostages."

    Rami Abdelrahman, founder of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in the Syrian war via a network of activists across the country, said that at the time of the operation last month, his activists in Raqqa received a report from a single source close to the Islamic State saying that there had been a raid in the area by American troops.

    "The residents said they heard the noise of aircraft and gunfire but did not know more than that," he said.

    The source close to the Islamic State had said at the time that some of the Americans had been killed, Abdelrahman said. The source said Islamic State fighters also had been hurt. "They said some of the brothers were wounded."

    The Committee to Protect Journalists, a U.S. independent group, estimates that two dozen kidnapped journalists, both local and foreigners, remain in Syria, including American Steven Sotloff who was shown at the end of the Islamic State video on Tuesday. The militant who killed Foley warned that Sotloff would be next if U.S air strikes persist.

    U.S. warplanes and drones have continued daily attacks on Islamic State positions in Iraq. U.S. officials say they have not ruled out escalating military action against the jihadists, who have increased their threats against the United States since the air campaign in Iraq began two weeks ago.
    August/23/2014
    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/isil-militants-tipped-off-to-us-operation-when-americans-asked-about-hostages-in-turkish-city.aspx?pageID=238&nID=70805&NewsCatID=352

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yo, what did you say up there that I missed?

    ReplyDelete
  18. He was thinking out loud to himself "I shouldn't play Caesar the Censor so much" then took it down.

    ;)

    How you been Sam? I trust well.

    ReplyDelete
  19. "It has been established that the most expensive beer in the world is sold in Norway, while the cheapest can be chugged in Poland. But in which country is the most alcohol drunk?"

    Why does this not surprise?


    World News
    Which Country Drinks the Most Alcohol?
    Chart Shows Which Nation Has World's Biggest Boozers

    By
    Laurence Witherington
    Updated Aug. 22, 2014 4:40 p.m. ET

    http://online.wsj.com/articles/alcohol-which-country-drinks-the-most-1408705249?mod=trending_now_3

    You will have to read the article to find out.

    (I am trying to wean the Reader away from our 'monosubject')

    If you do read the article you will see a wonderful picture of Rufus, at home, in his Budweiser drinking apparatus.

    ;)



    ReplyDelete
  20. WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Army base in Fort Lee, Va. has tweeted that there’s an “active shooter incident" and that it is on "lockdown.”

    ReplyDelete
  21. :) ...LOL


    FORT LEE, Va. — An “active shooter incident” has been reported at the Army base in Fort Lee, Virginia, according to multiple reports.

    Fort Lee issued a statement on social media on Monday morning:

    “An active shooter incident has been reported on Fort Lee at CASCOM HQ, Bldg. 5020. All personnel should enact active shooter protocols immediately. The installation is being locked down until further notice. More info to follow.”

    The base is currently on lockdown.

    Fort Lee is home to the Combined Arms Support Command

    ReplyDelete
  22. the smile and laugh was for WIO comment on the shooter not being named Cohen.

    ReplyDelete
  23. With embarrassment I admit to writing "western" Libya instead of "eastern" Libya during the past two days. Go figure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. allen is embarrassed by US successes, plying up in Libya.

      First things the arm chair pacifists have to discern ....
      What are the US interests and GOALS in these far flung lands.

      Who ever decided that a "stable" Libya, under the control of Colonel Q was 'normal' and that 'normalized' relations with Colonel Q were the paramount US interest in and about Libya, they are out of the running.
      Those people do not even understand the "Rules", let alone the nuances of the 'Game"..

      Delete
    2. .

      Who ever decided that a "stable" Libya, under the control of Colonel Q was 'normal' and that 'normalized' relations with Colonel Q were the paramount US interest in and about Libya, they are out of the running.

      As far as I know, no one here said that. IMO the chief US interest in Libya was oil, especially oil for its European allies. Now, with the FUBAR we initiated, there may be more immediate and pressing issues there.

      What was said here yesterday was that those who argued that Libya under Ghadafi, prior to the war we initiated in 2011, was a threat to the US, either tactically or strategically, militarily or through promotion and support of terrorists, was ill-informed and frankly down-right silly.

      .

      Delete
    3. The "Objective" of the US was to limit the availability of Libyan il, on the world market.
      Just as it is with regards to Iraqi oil and Iranian oil.

      This policy imperative is the first error in 'seeing' that the arm chair pacifists make.
      There is no track record of the US applying military force, with the expectation that oil supplies to the global market will increase.While there is a track record of US military force being applied to limit the amount of oil in the market place.

      Iraq is paramount, with Iran running second, in that regard.
      The premier US ally, Saudi Arabia is being well served.

      Delete
    4. The "Objective" of the US was to limit the availability of Libyan oil, on the world market

      Delete
    5. The internal politics of Libya, not of strategic importance to anyone in the US.
      That the country is in turmoil, a benefit to our allies in Egypt.

      Robert was dissatisfied,about Egypt, just yesterday.
      Seems the military was in charge of Egypt when Obama took office.
      Seems the Egyptian military is still in charge of Egypt, today.

      Robert thinks that because of this salient reality, US foreign policy is a shambles.
      Not once, in all the political maneuvers in Egypt, did General Dynamics ever shut down the factory producing M1 Abrams tanks for the Egyptian military.

      The course had been set, the destination known, from the onset of the voyage.
      The Egyptian military is now even more ensconced in control of that country, the opponents of US policy are in prison, executed or in exile ...

      Robert is irritated that the US feigned left, before moving right.
      The feint towards the Muslim Brotherhood, well, let's just say it confused him.

      Delete
    6. .

      You are a dissembler, rat.

      Yesterday, you argued Ghadafi was a strategic threat to the US and its European interests. Now, you say no it wasn't a strategic threat to the US. Instead, you say we went to war to help out our 'friend' Egypt and to drive up the price of oil. Both points are ridiculous.

      Anyone who watched the ham-handed actions of Clinton and our ambassador to Egypt during the run-up to Mubarek's ouster would know that any plans the US has with Egypt are ad-hoc at best, the two ruling principles being the keep Egypt calm in the neighborhood and keep the peace with Israel.

      ...feigned left, before moving right...

      Moron.

      Oil was one of the primary reason for the Libyan intervention. However, Occum's razor tells us it was about UK and French oil contracts, leases for BP and Total, rather than trying to drive up the price of oil.

      Anyone with any knowledge of the 'game' realizes that the world oil price is pretty much set by what Saudi Arabia needs to run its budget not by US policy. Driving up oil prices not only aids our so-called allies in the ME, it also affects others, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, (and I guess you would have to pick between SA and Qatar).

      If you really want a conspiracy theory you can sink your teeth into, look up Ghadafi and the Gold-money Plan.

      http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/markets/item/4630-gadhafis-gold-money-plan-would-have-devastated-dollar


      It's got everything you could want, corrupt central bankers, a plan to destroy the US dollar, the global monetary system. Much better reading than your assertion about driving up oil prices.

      .

      Delete
    7. .

      Re: The Gold Money Plan

      I think it should be near the top of the rat-reading list.

      .

      Delete
  24. Nothing nuanced about the Russians

    The Ukrainian military says it is battling rebel armoured vehicles that crossed from Russia and headed to the south-eastern city of Mariupol.

    It said the column was halted near the town of Novoazovsk.

    One military commander said pro-Russian rebels might be trying to open up a new southern front.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he not heard the reports but complained of regular "disinformation about our 'incursions'".

    He also said Russia planned to send another humanitarian convoy into eastern Ukraine "in the next few days" as the humanitarian situation there was "deteriorating".

    Its first convoy, which returned at the weekend, crossed the border without Ukraine's authorisation. Ukraine feared the convoy was carrying military equipment to the pro-Russian separatists and denounced it as an invasion.

    More than 2,000 people have died in recent months in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists. Some 330,00 people have been displaced.

    The Russian and Ukrainian presidents are scheduled to meet in Minsk, Belarus, on Tuesday for talks on the crisis.

    ‘Enough resources'

    Ukraine's military said border guards had halted the column about 5km (3 miles) north-east of Novoazovsk, which is about 10km from the frontier in the far south-east of Ukraine.

    Heavy clashes were reported at the village of Markyne.

    One commander of a Ukrainian national guard unit in the area told Reuters news agency: "A war has broken out here."

    Ukrainian sources said the armoured vehicles had crossed the border bearing symbols of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic. Officials said 10 tanks and two armoured personnel carriers were in the column although other reports said the number of vehicles was as high as 30.

    Mariupol, a major port on the Azov Sea, is in the hands of Ukrainian government forces, who ousted rebels from the city in June after weeks of fighting.

    A Ukrainian military spokesman said government forces still controlled Mariupol and the road to Novoazovsk.

    Spokesman Andriy Lysenko said it was an attempt "by the Russian military in the guise of Donbass fighters (rebels) to open a new area of military confrontation". The scene of most of the fighting has been much further north.



    When asked about the column, Mr Lavrov said: "I have not heard of this, but there is plenty of disinformation out there about our 'incursions'."

    Ukraine and Western powers have accused Russia of arming the rebels, charges Moscow has denied.

    There have been numerous previous reports of armored vehicles crossing Ukraine's eastern border.
    {...}

    ReplyDelete

  25. {...}
    'Fascists'
    Mr Lavrov said he had also sent a note to the Ukrainian foreign ministry on Sunday informing it of the new aid convoy.

    First Russian aid convoy returns, 23 Aug
    The first Russian aid convoy returned at the weekend
    He told a news conference on Monday: "The humanitarian situation is not improving but deteriorating.

    "We want to reach an agreement on all conditions for delivering a second convoy by the same route... in the coming days."

    Russia said the first convoy had delivered generators, food and drink.

    Asked about Tuesday's presidential meeting, Mr Lavrov said: "We are ready... for any format as long as there is a result," adding that Russia wanted "to help Ukrainians agree among themselves".

    Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
    The BBC's David Stern describes how the captured soldiers were marched through Donetsk
    Mr Lavrov also commented on the parading of captured Ukrainian government soldiers by rebels through the centre of Donetsk on Sunday.

    Crowds lined the streets chanting "fascists" as the dishevelled-looking prisoners walked by.

    Mr Lavrov said this was "nowhere near mistreatment" and that Ukrainian fighters' actions often amounted to "war crimes".

    "I saw images of that parade and I didn't see anything close to what could be considered as humiliating," he said.

    The violence in east Ukraine erupted in April when pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence from Kiev. This followed Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March.

    ReplyDelete
  26. .

    Libyan capital under Islamist control after Tripoli airport seized
    Operation Dawn captures airport in fierce fighting against pro-government militias after five-week siege in the capital

    Libya has lurched ever closer to fragmentation and civil war this weekend after Islamist-led militias seized the airport in the capital, Tripoli, proclaimed their own government, and presented the world with yet another crisis.

    The victory, which secures Islamist control over Tripoli, was a culmination of weeks of fighting triggered by elections in July, lost by Islamist parties...


    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/24/libya-capital-under-islamist-control-tripoli-airport-seized-operation-dawn

    Democracy is a great thing until it's not.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      From the same article,

      The weekend's developments threaten to tilt the country across the line from troubled post-Arab spring democracy to outright failed state.

      Egypt and Sudan are known to be watching developments closely, and last week the French president, François Hollande, said that despite the crises in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and Gaza, his "biggest concern at the moment is Libya".


      Gee, its beginning to look like the 'arm-chair pacifists' were correct in the estimation of the likely result of the US/NATO intervention in 2011.

      .

      Delete
    2. Ain't it just great when "The Plan Comes Together"!

      And the spectators do not even realize that there WAS a "Plan" all along ....
      Even when it is published and discussed ...
      Over a long period of time, under a myriad of names

      Delete
    3. .

      allen is embarrassed by US successes, plying up in Libya.

      While the English is a little suspect, the rat has come out of the closet and declares himself an interventionist and that the role of the US is to sow chaos, fear, and disorder wherever it trods.

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      Thus the rat adds to his already expansive though questionable reputation.

      .

      Delete
    5. For the record- Elephant Bar March 2011
      171 comments:

      DeuceWed Mar 30, 07:20:00 PM EDT
      …and I win't even get into Lindsey Graham. Didn't he used to play with Fleetwood Mac?

      ReplyDelete

      DeuceWed Mar 30, 07:24:00 PM EDT
      And we get in deeper and deeper.


      President Obama has a signed a secret presidential finding authorizing covert operations to aid the effort in Libya where rebels are in full retreat despite air support from U.S. and allied forces, a source tells ABC News.

      The presidential finding discusses a number of ways to help the opposition to Moammar Gadhafi, authorizing some assistance now and setting up a legal framework for more robust activities in the future.

      The finding does not direct covert operatives to provide arms to the rebels immediately, although it does prepare for such a contingency and other contingencies should the president decide to go down that road in the future.

      ReplyDelete

      DeuceWed Mar 30, 07:24:00 PM EDT
      I know you are sick of me posting and talking about it, but this is madness, and not on my part.

      ReplyDelete

      AnonymousWed Mar 30, 07:33:00 PM EDT
      Seriously am I the only one who finds it hysterical that this is the guy that was given a seat on the UN Human Rights Council and now the UN is passing resolutions authorizing air strikes in the hope insurgents take him down.

      You seriously cannot make this stuff up.

      ReplyDelete

      QuirkWed Mar 30, 07:47:00 PM EDT
      .

      Obama authorizes secret help for Libya rebels

      WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

      Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter.

      Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place but does not mean that it will.

      As is common practice for this and all administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. "I will reiterate what the president said yesterday -- no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya."

      The CIA declined comment.

      Delete
    6. From 1982 through to the present, there has been a "Plan" with regards to Libya, Egypt Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran ...
      Printed - translated and well discussed.
      Updated along the way by a wide variety of 'experts of great renown', legends in the media mix.

      Now that "Plan" is well engaged, and the armchair pacifists still will not acknowledge it exists.
      While the results are not even hidden, in plain sight.

      Delete
    7. .

      While the English is a little suspect, the rat has come out of the closet and declares himself an interventionist and that the role of the US is to sow chaos, fear, and disorder wherever it trods.


      The true irony is of course that whether either will admit it, the rat has now jumped onto the Bob-train with both feet as they find themselves both philosophically and intellectually compatible.

      :o)

      .

      Delete
    8. Rat is a figment of your imaginationMon Aug 25, 01:40:00 PM EDT

      Merely detailing what has happened, what is happening and not taking much of a stand on the good or the bad of it. Quirk.

      The tactics are working. Whether or not the strategy is sound ...

      Not a discussion anyone here wants to have.
      The "Rat" has not opined upon strategy, nor on tactics, other than to say that air strikes and drones are low cost, no footprint operations that can succeed, over time.

      As they did, so handsomely, in Libya..

      The "Rat" has not made a comment, in months.

      Delete
    9. Rat is still a figment of your imaginationMon Aug 25, 01:43:00 PM EDT

      His comments about air power, made in August of 2008, in regards to the Russian invasion of Georgia.

      Delete
    10. rat lives in a fantasy world where he thinks if he posts under a different name he will be a different person. He makes for quite the cute, but irritating, character outfitted with a well worn tin foil hat.

      Delete
    11. .

      Now that "Plan" is well engaged, and the armchair pacifists still will not acknowledge it exists.
      While the results are not even hidden, in plain sight.


      Whether the plan exists or not is irrelevant to this discussion. What is relevant is that the rat believes it exists and that he approves, calling the chaos and discord that has been sown a US 'success'.

      We can leave it up to the reader to judge if in fact US foreign policy over the past decade has been a 'success'.

      On the one side you have the arm-chair pacifists. On the other, you have the rat, refugee from the dwarf-planet Eris, acolyte of the goddess Eris, follower of Discordianism, adherent of the Absurdist philosophy, and...oh yea...and Bob.

      .

      Delete
    12. .

      Merely detailing what has happened, what is happening and not taking much of a stand on the good or the bad of it. Quirk.

      Nonsense.

      You did not offer any negative comments about the plan, no reference to the 'ill-advised' Yinon Plan, but you were almost giddy in describing US adherence to the plan as a success. You have littered the blog with posts about how everything going on in Libya is according to 'plan' and that what has happened is in the US interest.

      .

      Delete
    13. Rat continues to be your focus, silly billyMon Aug 25, 02:01:00 PM EDT

      The chaos and disorder, not part of the "Plan", neither a goal nor a byproduct.
      Just the aftermath.

      The "Plan" called for the elimination of Colonel Q, and the removal of Libyan oil from the marketplace.
      Both goals were attained.

      He rants on about the dwarf planet he inhabits, as if anyone here cared.

      Delete
    14. yo, rat, pick a name. You post the same thoughts under numerous different names which leaves the common denominator of rat. Your hegemony of character might work if your characters had distinct POV's but they don't - they are all the same. If you want to be referred to as something other than rat I would suggest you consistently post under one name and maybe, with time, people will refer to you by that name. On the other hand just make invoke that glorious return of DR and you'll get your wish.

      Delete
    15. Silly man. They (the British and French in particular) didn't want Libyan oil off the market they just wanted control of it.

      Delete
    16. .

      The "Plan" called for the elimination of Colonel Q, and the removal of Libyan oil from the marketplace.
      Both goals were attained.


      What conspiracy theory advocate did you get that absurdity from? Or did, you just intuit it during one of you toad-licking sessions.

      He rants on about the dwarf planet he inhabits, as if anyone here cared.

      Actually, that was intended for Bob. I thought he might like it especially since it was in reference to you. While obviously not my intellectual equal he is still my pal. I like to throw him a bone when I can.

      .

      Delete
  27. Freak out & suicide

    Associated Press= FORT LEE, Va. (AP) — A commanding general at a Virginia Army base says a soldier with a gun barricaded herself in an office, then shot herself in the head as law enforcement officials tried to negotiate with her.

    Maj. Gen. Stephen R. Lyons says the soldier went on a rampage in the office, throwing objects. Fort Lee temporarily went on lockdown while she was barricaded on the third floor of the four-story building that is headquarters for the Army's Combined Arms Support Command. Lyons says about 1,100 people were inside the building.

    The Army did not identify the soldier or give her condition. She was taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. No other injuries were reported.

    Lyons says she's a sergeant 1st class who's been in the Army for 14 years and at Fort Lee for three. He says her gun wasn't a service weapon.

    ReplyDelete
  28. John McCain, Conductor of the "Arab Spring" and the Caliph Ibrahim


    In May 2013, Senator John McCain made his way illegally to near Idleb in Syria via Turkey to meet with leaders of the "armed opposition". His trip was not made public until his return to Washington.

    This movement was organized by the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which, contrary to its title, is a Zionist Organization led by a Palestinian employee of AIPAC
    Photo Caption - John McCain and the heads of the Free Syrian Army. In the left foreground, Ibrahim al-Badri, with which the Senator is talking. Next, Brigadier General Salim Idris (with glasses).

    If we can see Brigadier General Idriss Salem, head of the Free Syrian Army, one can also see Ibrahim al-Badri (foreground on the left) with whom the senator is talking. Back from the surprise trip, John McCain claimed that all those responsible for the Free Syrian Army were "moderates who can be trusted" (sic).

    JPEG - 24.2 kb

    However, since October 4, 2011, Ibrahim al-Badri (also known as Abu Du’a) was on the list of the five terrorists most wanted by the United States (Rewards for Justice). A premium of up to $ 10 million was offered to anyone who would assist in his capture. [9] The next day, October 5, 2011, Ibrahim al-Badri was included in the list of the Sanctions Committee of the UN as a member of Al Qaeda. [10]

    In addition, a month before receiving Senator McCain, Ibrahim al-Badri, known under his nom de guerre as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, created the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ÉIIL) – all the while still belonging to the staff of the very "moderate" Free Syrian Army. He claimed as his own the attack on the Taj and Abu Ghraib prisons in Iraq, from which he helped between 500 and 1,000 jihadists escape who then joined his organization. This attack was coordinated with other almost simultaneous operations in eight other countries. Each time, the escapees joined the jihadist organizations fighting in Syria. This case is so strange that Interpol issued a note and requested the assistance of the 190 member countries.

    http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/08/22/john-mccain-conductor-arab-spring-and-caliph-ibrahim.html

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm would like to know what you guys perceive as America's interest in the fight with IS? Is it simply humanitarian interest?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The interest is all about control of the resources, Ash.
      Who has it, who does not.

      When Iraqi oil production reaches 3 million barrels per day, violence ensues.
      Been that way nearly twenty years.

      The US is not fighting ISIS, it has carried out a series of limited airstrikes, against military targets, in northern Iraq.
      That is not fighting ISIS, it is providing very late and limited support to an ally of the US.

      http://london.usembassy.gov/iraq022.html

      06 December 2012
      The memorandum of understanding — signed by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Dlimi — covers the range of U.S.-Iraqi defense cooperation and covers the next five years. This includes high-level military-to-military visits, professional military education cooperation, counterterrorism cooperation and the development of defense intelligence capabilities.

      The two nations committed to joint exercises including exchanges of information dealing with humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, officials said.

      Delete
    2. Fighting ISIS, that would entail taking the fight into Syria, which would also be in support of the Assad regime.
      That is not happening, nor will it.

      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.

      “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”

      Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328

      Delete
    3. You, Rufus in particular, and Deuce, are urging the US take the fight on with IS. What oil do they control? Not much that I am aware of. When they threatened Erbil Oil appeared to be a factor and the US hopped right in.

      Is that it, in your view rat, oil? If oil isn't a factor let them be, is that your position?

      Delete
    4. your talking points got tired along time ago rat. anything new?

      Delete
    5. Rat is a figment of your imaginationMon Aug 25, 02:30:00 PM EDT

      There are no talking points, Ash

      “They're called 'facts', and my role is to amplify those, not cheerlead. ...
      ― Glenn Greenwald

      The truth does not 'wear out' even if you tire of hearing it.

      Delete
  30. Deuce,

    that picture of John McNutz, and Al Baghdadi would be a Great Post. Don't you think?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Deuce wrote:

    "There is no popular support by Muslims for ISIS."


    How do you know this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. World's Most Populous Muslim Nation Declares ISIS Support Illegal
      http://www.christianpost.com/news/worlds-most-populous-muslim-nation-declares-isis-support-illegal-124706/

      Delete
    2. So, Indonesia represents all Muslims in you world rat?

      Sure, some, many, Muslims, hate ISIS. What is of interest to me is what support do they have in the areas they currently occupy.

      Delete
    3. Now, Ash, it may go to the 'definition' of what or who, is a Muslim ....

      Is being Muslim a trial, religious or ethnic or racial category?

      Can a person be a terrorist and 'really' be a Muslim?
      Any more than a person could burn a witch at the stake and still be considered a "Christian"?

      Delete
    4. Is being Muslim a tribal, religious or ethnic or racial category?

      Delete
    5. Can a person just 'declare' himself to be a 'Muslim'?
      Or do they have to be 'born' Muslims?


      Delete
    6. Is Islam like "Judaism" a 'religion' that not only allows but celebrates 'Secularists' in their midst?

      Delete
    7. Or has Islam, like Judaism, been hijacked by radicals?

      Who speaks for Islam, for Judaism?

      What makes those two terms religious 'categories' that need to be addressed?

      Delete

    8. What does being a "Muslim" have to do with support or loathing for ISIS, Ash?

      Delete
    9. Like I said, I'm interested in how much support IS has in the area it occupies (and what it would like to conquer). I don't really give a shit if they are Muslim or not but I'd venture a guess that all of their supporters are Muslims. Heck, let me go out on a limb and guess they are all of the Sunni sect as well though not all Sunni will be supporters.

      Delete
    10. ummm, as to your last question, Deuce wrote that. Notice those little marks " they are called quotes.

      Delete
  32. Ash, by your tone, you are inclined towards a hands off approach. Just leave it alone. That is legitimate but ugly. The consequences are unknown but the practices of ISIS are both criminal and barbaric. You can rightly argue that US high explosives used by Israel and the US are no less horrific, lethal and worse yet, indiscriminate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember the arguments for going in the last time? Saddam was barbaric. Saddam used weapons of mass destruction on his own people. He was a brutal dictator who had weapons of mass destruction. Remember how evil he was and how it was in the US interest to take him out? Look what happened.

      At least in the Saddam case he had a full fledged state running with oil income. He was far more of a threat to US interests than IS currently is.

      I agree the IS folk are brutal but how does having the US take them out serve US interests? What further mess will the US be pulled into? Why should the US expend more blood and treasure on a relatively powerless group of fanatics when there are many actors in the region who have a much more crucial interest in taking them on (for example the Egyptian UAE action in Libya - ironically objected to by the US)? Let Iran and/or Syria expend the blood and treasure, or Turkey. Why do it for them?

      I would be more inclined to support US action in that particular region if it was done in conjunction with multilateral partners, preferably UN backing and some sort of ICC sanction but for the US to unilaterally make the call and do the deed is foolish on many different levels.

      If the US could do a grand bargain with Iran and Syria that could make it worthwhile but I really don't think the US has the stomach for going back in and trying to win the hearts and minds of the locals which would be necessary if you are doing it for humanitarian purposes. I see no evidence to support the notion that IS is just a renegade band of EVIL terrorists running roughshod over a terrified populace. Sure there is some of that going on but there are a lot of local Sunni tribes that appear to be not resisting IS or maybe even working with them.

      Delete
    2. and who is funding IS? I've read Qatar, maybe Saudi Arabia...

      I think there is more going on here than simply whacko head choppers running amok amongst a terrified populace.

      Delete
    3. Agree with you on Syrian and Iranian participation. The US < Israel and Saudi have all participated with ISIS.

      Delete
  33. As to the levels of support, religious fanatics are universally in the minority. That is what makes them “fanatic”.My intervention would be for the greater good and the protection of basic human rights. I have no doubt that ignoring it, would be far worse.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I am not concerned with their form of governance if human rights are maintained.

    ReplyDelete

  35. Cornel West Blasts Obama: A “Brown-Faced Clinton”, A “Post-Traumatic Depression” Will Follow

    “The thing is, [Obama] posed as a progressive and turned out to be counterfeit.”

    ReplyDelete
  36. ... on Thursday, British forensic experts have concluded that the ISIS beheading video involving James Foley was in all likelihood staged using “camera trickery and slick post-production techniques.”

    An international forensic science company which does work for police forces across Britain found that, “James Foley’s execution may have been staged, with the actual murder taking place off-camera,” reports the Telegraph.

    The experts noted that despite Foley’s executioner appearing to draw a knife across the neck area at least six times, no blood is seen. The video itself does not show the actual beheading, merely a still image which purports to show Foley’s decapitated head resting on his body.

    “Aymenn al-Tamimi, a fellow at the Middle East Forum think-tank, remarked that ISIS has greatly improved their video production over the last few years,” reports the Inquisitr. “Techniques to fake a beheading would not be difficult for them to manage, and the video doesn’t exactly leave their failures on the hidden: Despite six slashing motion to James’ neck, no blood can be seen in the video; Foley’s reaction seems to be very disconnected with what is actually occurring, the analysts said.”

    ReplyDelete
  37. Although media reports have suggested that Foley was probably killed off camera, it makes little sense that ISIS, a group which has built its reputation on cruelty and barbarity, would refrain from showing the bloody execution. Indeed, the fact that they didn’t directly suggests that the video was produced and released by an entity other than ISIS.

    The fact that the footage was immediately pounced upon as a casus belli for expanding U.S. military operations in the face of massive public and political opposition to America’s involvement in the region indicates that the release of the video only served to benefit interests aligned with the U.S. military-industrial complex.

    Senior Republicans yesterday cited the video in urging President Obama to expand air strikes targeting ISIS militants from Iraq to Syria.

    “We need to expand air strikes so you can ultimately defeat and eliminate Isis,” Texas Congressman Mike McCaul told ABC. “Don’t kid yourself for a second that they aren’t intent on hitting our homeland, I think the threat is very real.”

    Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime proponent of an attack on Syria, said that Obama should not consult with President Bashar Al-Assad before launching the assault.

    “There’s no way you can solve the problem in Iraq without hitting them in Syria,” the South Carolina Republican said, adding, “The goal is to hit ISIL in Syria to deal with their command and control.”

    Graham also said that the U.S. needed to bombard ISIS in Syria in order to “deal with the threat to the homeland.”

    ReplyDelete
  38. Under the "Rat Doctrine" there would have to be local indigenous support.
    That is a prerequisite of the proposed "Low Footprint" operation.
    If there are no local forces for the 'A Team' to advise and train then tactical air strikes would not have any effect.

    The debate on whether even this small footprint military aid is 'to much', seems nihilist in nature.

    Just who the ISIS are, who has supported and financed their expansion, all legitimate topics of discussion.

    That Israel, the most militarily potent regional power has stated it would prefer an al-Qeada group, like ISIS, to President Assad as the custodian of Syria's military, that just might be the starting point of discussion as to the real motivations of the Conga Line.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good to see you back DR!

      You do realize an Ambassador saying something in a newspaper interview does not make what is said official government policy?

      I agree there are some players (as always) who want the US to do their heavy lifting for them in the region. What local players want US support in taking out IS? The Shia Iraqi government is keen as would be Iran and Syria I would think. Who else? Most importantly, those who are directly under IS rule, who would they be rooting for? I certainly can't claim to know and I don't think many of us in the west do know either.

      Delete
    2. While depending upon which 'source' one reads, the battle in eastern Ukraine is one where either the Federalists are winning, or losing, depending upon which side the reader thinks best represent the Federalists.

      The forces not aligned with the regime in Kiev, are either on the verge of being annihilated or have the pro-Kiev forces surrounded, bottled-up and on the brink of defeat. It makes one wonder ...

      Ambassador ... an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country.
      The Israel Ambassador to the US, Ash, speaks for the state of Israel.

      That is the Job Description

      How he delivers the message, is not nearly as pertinent as the message

      The message is, was crystal clear and delivered without equivocation.

      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.

      “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”

      Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328

      Delete
  39. Read the next post on ISIS capturing a Shia prison.

    ReplyDelete