tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post4614427364720347102..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: How about spitting on the GOP’s grave?Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-52714427690202541122016-02-20T19:42:53.653-05:002016-02-20T19:42:53.653-05:00*TRUMP 34% CRUZ 21% RUBIO 21% .....Drudge
Looks ...*TRUMP 34% CRUZ 21% RUBIO 21% .....Drudge<br /><br /><br />Looks like the end of the road for Bush.Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-80831689887772546312016-02-20T19:39:50.956-05:002016-02-20T19:39:50.956-05:00Fox calls S. Carolina for Trump. Massive turnout.
...Fox calls S. Carolina for Trump. Massive turnout.<br /><br />Cruz and Rubio toe to toe for second.Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73731133796166862212016-02-20T19:28:12.164-05:002016-02-20T19:28:12.164-05:00I AM WOMAN!
HILLARY TAKES NEVADA....
Dem turnout ...I AM WOMAN!<br />HILLARY TAKES NEVADA.... <br />Dem turnout drops by a third vs. 2008.....Drudge<br /><br />Drops by 1/3.....this sounds like bad news for the general election for the dems......what excitement......an old liar vs an old socialist...Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-37590823642080733322016-02-20T19:15:26.920-05:002016-02-20T19:15:26.920-05:00TRUMP 36% CRUZ 21% RUBIO 18%.........Drudge
Early...TRUMP 36% CRUZ 21% RUBIO 18%.........Drudge<br /><br />Early returns in S. CarolinaIdaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-91004693420631369402016-02-20T19:13:22.067-05:002016-02-20T19:13:22.067-05:00Ah, America bombing arabs....
sweetAh, America bombing arabs....<br /><br />sweetWhat is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-60360491100576931282016-02-20T19:12:13.505-05:002016-02-20T19:12:13.505-05:00Didn't happen, but then again?
I didn't p...Didn't happen, but then again?<br /><br />I didn't predict that 400,000 arabs would be slaughtered by their OWN arab brothers...<br /><br />LOLWhat is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-36472598174989861002016-02-20T19:10:56.009-05:002016-02-20T19:10:56.009-05:00Talk about good sense.
Nobody in their right mind...Talk about good sense.<br /><br />Nobody in their right mind would move a muscle for either Hillary or The Bern.<br /><br />Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-40000435258228919372016-02-20T19:10:50.398-05:002016-02-20T19:10:50.398-05:00I think he'd argue with himself on who stole t...I think he'd argue with himself on who stole the blanket.What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-64487101864707917332016-02-20T18:55:17.749-05:002016-02-20T18:55:17.749-05:00Jack HawkinsSat Feb 20, 05:08:00 PM EST
Never sai...<b>Jack HawkinsSat Feb 20, 05:08:00 PM EST<br /><br />Never said that Sodastram was not a good company.</b><br /><br /><br />arfarfARFARFARFAF<b>ARFARF!!!!</b><br />Idaho Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-85470956671985392542016-02-20T18:37:59.452-05:002016-02-20T18:37:59.452-05:00America Is Now Fighting A Proxy War With Itself In...<i><b><br /> America Is Now Fighting A Proxy War With Itself In Syria</b><br /><br />Confusion in the Obama administration’s Syria policy is playing out on the ground as U.S.-backed groups begin battling each other. </i><br /><br />Officials with Syrian rebel battalions that receive covert backing from one arm of the U.S. government told BuzzFeed News that they recently began fighting rival rebels supported by another arm of the U.S. government.<br /><br />The infighting between American proxies is the latest setback for the Obama administration’s Syria policy and lays bare its contradictions as violence in the country gets worse.<br /><br />The confusion is playing out on the battlefield — with the U.S. effectively engaged in a proxy war with itself. “It’s very strange, and I cannot understand it,” said Ahmed Othman, the commander of the U.S.-backed rebel battalion Furqa al-Sultan Murad, who said he had come under attack from U.S.-backed Kurdish militants in Aleppo this week.<br /><br />Furqa al-Sultan Murad receives weapons from the U.S. and its allies as part of a covert program, overseen by the CIA, that aids rebel groups struggling to overthrow the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to rebel officials and analysts tracking the conflict.<br /><br />The Kurdish militants, on the other hand, receive weapons and support from the Pentagon as part of U.S. efforts to fight ISIS. Known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, they are the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s strategy against the extremists in Syria and coordinate regularly with U.S. airstrikes.<br /><br />Yet as Assad and his Russian allies have routed rebels around Aleppo in recent weeks — rolling back Islamist factions and moderate U.S. allies alike, as aid groups warn of a humanitarian catastrophe — the YPG has seized the opportunity to take ground from these groups, too.<br /><br />In the face of public objections from U.S. officials and reportedly backed by Russian airstrikes, the YPG has overrun key villages in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. It now threatens the town of Azaz, on the border with Turkey, through which rebel groups have long received crucial supplies. Over the weekend, Turkey began shelling YPG positions around Azaz in response, raising another difficult scenario for the U.S. in which its proxy is under assault from its NATO ally.<br /><br />Yet as America has looked on while Russia and Syria target its moderate rebel partners, it has failed to stop the YPG from attacking them too. “That is a major problem,” said Andrew Tabler, a Syria specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It’s not just that it’s a nonsense policy. It’s that we’re losing influence so rapidly to the Russians that people just aren’t listening to us anymore.”<br /><br />Othman, the Furqa al-Sultan Murad commander, said the YPG tried to seize two areas of Aleppo under his control, resulting in firefights that left casualties on both sides. He had captured seven YPG fighters and was holding them prisoner, he added.<br /><br />Othman’s group receives weapons from the U.S. and its allies, including TOW anti-tank missiles, he said, and fights Assad as well as ISIS. The aid is part of a long-running CIA effort approved by Congress and coordinated from an operations room in Turkey with participation from international allies of the rebellion such as Saudi Arabia. Othman said he was in regular contact with his American handlers about the problems on the ground. “The Americans must stop [the YPG] — they must tell them you are attacking groups that we support just like we support you,” he said. “But they are just watching. I don’t understand U.S. politics.”<br /><br /><br />http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/america-is-now-fighting-a-proxy-war-with-itself-in-syria?utm_term=.seRQJBl1E#.shWGZy36VJack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-253717821863613542016-02-20T18:23:01.954-05:002016-02-20T18:23:01.954-05:00So foolishly wrong, then ...
Still foolish today
...So foolishly wrong, then ...<br />Still foolish today<br /><br /><b>What is "Occupation"</b> Wed Sep 03, 08:25:00 AM EDT (2008)<br /><i><br />Let's see this week...<br /><br />Egypt embraces Hezbollah...<br /><br />Hezbollah attacks a lebanese army helicopter killing one <br /><br />hezbollah now has 4x the rockets it had in 2006, has new bunkers built under the noses of UN 1701<br /><br />Iran has announced a new sub, a new fighter plance (that flies 3000 miles)<br /><br />Russia has announced it is completing the iranian nuke reactor<br /><br />Nkor is rebuilding it's reactor...<br /><br />Russia has swallowed a portion of Georgia and now threatens Ukraine <br /><br />Russia threatens Moldovia<br /><br />Hamas still holds a yooung man for 800 days and has now rebuilt it's anti-tank/aircraft rockets, has thousands of surface to surface rockets and mortars<br /><br />iran just opened up another 3000 centafuges<br /><br />yep i see a long range drone attack on Iran by israel, followed up by syria, hamas & hezbollah attacks on israel</i><br /><br />http://2164th.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-can-change-history-tonight.html<br />Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-25073855117056303392016-02-20T18:21:27.558-05:002016-02-20T18:21:27.558-05:00Talk about corruption.Talk about corruption.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-83142510184877840422016-02-20T18:19:54.466-05:002016-02-20T18:19:54.466-05:00There are 2.839 million people in Arizona.
Hillar...There are 2.839 million people in Arizona.<br /><br />Hillary Clinton received 5000 plus votes in the caucus and is the big winner.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-24920971615564144392016-02-20T18:18:18.557-05:002016-02-20T18:18:18.557-05:00No, "O"rdure, you are wrong again, that ...<br />No, "O"rdure, you are wrong again, that does not lead to a Google account, which, as you know the 'rat' has, although not in that name.<br /><br />Validation come fro the Google account link, please provide that for verification purposes.Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-61017415937897460572016-02-20T18:16:05.008-05:002016-02-20T18:16:05.008-05:00Airstrikes in Syria
Attack, ground-attack, fighte...Airstrikes in Syria<br /><br />Attack, ground-attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted nine airstrikes in Syria:<br /><br />-- Near Hasakah, four strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.<br /><br />-- Near Ayn Isa, a strike destroyed an ISIL armored front-end loader.<br /><br />-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike struck an ISIL main gas and oil separation plant.<br /><br />-- Near Manbij, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL anti-air artillery piece and three ISIL fighting positions.<br /><br />Airstrikes in Iraq<br /><br />Fighter, attack, ground-attack, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 16 airstrikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:<br /><br />-- Near Baghdadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL weapons cache and three ISIL rocket systems.<br /><br />-- Near Huwayjah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.<br /><br />-- Near Albu Hayat, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.<br /><br />-- Near Fallujah, a strike destroyed an ISIL anti-air artillery piece.<br /><br />-- Near Habbaniyah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.<br /><br />-- Near Hit, a strike destroyed an ISIL tunnel entrance.<br /><br />-- Near Mosul, four strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions, four ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL petroleum site, and two ISIL command and control nodes.<br /><br />-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed four ISIL fighting positions.<br /><br />-- Near Ramadi, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL anti-air artillery piece, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL vehicle bomb making facility, five ISIL staging areas, and an ISIL bed-down location.<br /><br />-- Near Tal Afar, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL tunnel system.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18630728172401560302016-02-20T18:15:34.930-05:002016-02-20T18:15:34.930-05:00{...}
Ah, but here is where Ross plants his seed,...{...}<br /><br />Ah, but here is where Ross plants his seed, whispers in the Administration’s neocon power brokers’ ears:<br /><br />“Certainly, were Russia’s costs to increase, Putin might look for a way out.”<br /><br />Hmm, now we see what he’s getting at:<br /><br />…it is time we make it clear to the Russians that unless they impose a cease-fire on Assad and Hezbollah and insist that humanitarian corridors are open, we will have no choice but to act with our partners to create a haven in Syria – for refugees and for the organization of the Syrian opposition.<br /><br />In other words, tell Russia if you do not stop fighting al-Qaeda and its affiliates in Syria we will face-off in a WWIII-threatening stance to establish a “jihadistan” in part of Syria from where the hundredth or so version of a rebel fighting force can be re-assembled.<br /><br />Ross’s plan is not for the weak of heart. ” [W]e cannot threaten to create a haven without following through if Putin refused to alter his course,” he writes. Meaning of course that we must be willing to actually go through with WWIII if Putin does not blink, back down, and pull out of Syria just as Russia’s intervention is meeting its objective. Surrender when on the verge of victory in Syria or face a nuclear war with the United States.<br /><br /><i><b>No one ever accused the neocons of thinking small. But with much of the Middle East a smoldering ruin due to the disastrous interventions they lied us into, no one should count out even their most insane-sounding plan being seriously considered somewhere in Washington.</b></i><br /><br />Daniel McAdams is director of the The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity. Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.<br /><br />Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-29347750466852508152016-02-20T18:12:23.326-05:002016-02-20T18:12:23.326-05:00QUESTION
Why Are Neocons So Desperate To Rescue A...QUESTION<br /><br /><b>Why Are Neocons So Desperate To Rescue Al Qaeda in Syria?</b><br /><br />Reading Dennis Ross and David Ignatius is a good reminder that the neocons live in a different world than the rest of us. They do not conform their analysis to reality, but rather they conform reality to their view of the world. Where most people would be encouraged to read that Aleppo in Syria was about to be liberated from its 3.5 year occupation by al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise, the neocons see a disaster.<br /><br />On the brink of al-Qaeda’s defeat in Aleppo, the Washington Post‘s Ignatius is furious that, “President Obama won’t approve military tactics that could actually shift the balance.” Yes, he wants to shift the balance toward al-Qaeda because like the other neocons he is so invested in the idea of regime change in Syria that he would even prefer turning the country into another Libya than to see government forces defeat his jihadist insurgents. Failing to “shift the balance” toward al-Qaeda fighters in Aleppo only brings “greater misery for the Syrian people,” in the world of Ignatius.<br /><br />Ignatius’s Washington Post, which has never seen a potential war it did not want to see turned into an actual war, thinks it a tragedy that the Syrian army’s advance on al-Qaeda occupied Aleppo has “cut off all vital routes of supply from Turkey to the rebel-held areas of the city.” Those would be Turkish supplies in support of al-Qaeda and ISIS rebels, but the Post is too deceptive to mention that fact.<br /><br /><br />It is as dishonest an inversion of reality as anything printed in Pravda of old.<br /><br />In the same vein as Ignatius, former Bush/Clinton/Obama Administration Middle East “expert” Dennis Ross writes to tell us, “what Putin is really up to in Syria.” In the above-linked article, The Los Angeles Times does not reveal that Ross is hardly an objective observer of the situation. As one of the founders of AIPAC‘s Washington Institute for Near East Policy – and a current counselor to that organization – Ross strongly supports AIPAC’s position in favor of regime change in Syria and Israel’s active role in assisting jihadist rebels from al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front in their efforts to overthrow the Assad government.<br /><br />So what does regime change neocon Dennis Ross want us to believe is happening in Syria? The Russians, he asserts, are playing a dirty game by stepping up their bombing campaign against ISIS, al-Qaeda, and affiliated rebels instead of pushing for a ceasefire. How funny that when the US/Turk/Saudi/Israeli-back jihadists were on the verge of taking over all of Syria not that long ago there was no talk from neocon quarters about a ceasefire or a negotiated political solution. Only now that al-Qaeda’s stronghold in Aleppo is on the verge of liberation by government forces are the neocons screaming that diplomacy should be given a chance.<br /><br />Russian operations are “designed to strengthen the Assad regime and weaken the non-Islamic State Sunni opposition in different parts of the country,” writes Ross. He doesn’t mention that particularly when it comes to Aleppo, the “non-Islamic State Sunni opposition” means al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front and affiliated forces.<br /><br />By relentlessly bombing Islamic State and other jihadist groups seeking to introduce Sharia law into secular Syria, “Putin is…undercutting our aim of isolating Islamic State and having Sunnis lead the fight against it.” Read that again. By attacking ISIS he is preventing the US from isolating ISIS. Doublespeak.<br /><br />What is Putin really up to in the world of Dennis Ross? He is not sincere about defeating Islamist extremism in Syria or even helping Assad’s forces win the war. No, Putin “aims to demonstrate that Russia, and not America, is the main power broker in the region and increasingly elsewhere.” Ah yes, the old argument about Russian expansionism. Baltic invasion, restoration of the USSR. All the neocon tripe.<br /><br />{...}Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18646779325577244062016-02-20T18:06:42.772-05:002016-02-20T18:06:42.772-05:00OUR INTELLIGENCE SERVICE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?
...OUR INTELLIGENCE SERVICE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?<br /><br /><b>Usama bin Laden may have gotten the idea for the 9/11 attacks after watching news coverage of the 1999 crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, in which a jihadist co-pilot caused the airliner to nosedive into the Atlantic, according to a first-hand account from one of the terror chief’s top lieutenants.</b><br /><br />Bin Laden wondered why the co-pilot in the deliberate crash did not fly the plane into buildings, Nasir al Wuhayshi said in the latest AQAP newsletter, in an account translated by the Long War Journal.<br /><br />Al Wuhayshi, former adviser to bin Laden and leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in June 2015. AQAP’s Al Masra newsletter recently published two editions of Al Wuhayshi's "untold story" about the plotting of the Sept. 11 attacks that claimed the lives of 2,996 people, including the 19 hijackers.<br /><br />Al Wuhayshi's version of events -- the first part published online on Jan. 31 and the second on Feb. 9 -- details how bin Laden watched news coverage of the Oct. 31, 1999, EgyptAir crash, in which the first officer deliberately brought down the Boeing 767 after saying several times in Egyptian Arabic, "Tawkalt ala Allah," which translates to "I rely on God." The plane, with 217 on board, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after departing John F. Kennedy International Airport for Cairo International Airport.<br /><br />Upon viewing news coverage of the air disaster, Bin Laden wondered why the co-pilot chose to bring the plane down into water instead of crashing it into a building, according to Al Wuhayshi's account in the Al Qaeda newsletter.<br /><br />On Sept. 11, 2001 -- two years after the EgyptAir crash -- Al Qaeda would carry out the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil, using four American planes and targeting symbolic U.S. landmarks.<br /><br />American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon and the fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa., after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers and steer it from its intended target -- Washington, D.C.<br /><br />According to the U.S. government, however, the 9/11 plot was in the works well before the 1999 EgyptAir disaster. The 9/11 Commission found that bin Laden's fellow mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammad, "presented a proposal for an operation that would involve training pilots who would crash planes into buildings in the United States" as early as 1996.<br /><br />Al Wuhayshi's insider account of 9/11 makes other notable claims, including the claim that Khalid Sheik Mohammad, a one-time Muslim Brotherhood member in Kuwait, wrote a play in his youth about downing a U.S. plane. <br /><br />http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/02/11/downing-egyptair-990-inspired-911-plot-says-al-qaeda-newslettter.htmlDeuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-54056787680673114072016-02-20T17:58:46.296-05:002016-02-20T17:58:46.296-05:00AL QAEDA DOING TURKEY,S DIRTY WORK
Al-Qaeda launc...AL QAEDA DOING TURKEY,S DIRTY WORK<br /><br /><b>Al-Qaeda launches new offensive on Kurdish district in Aleppo, civilian casualties reported</b><br /><br />ALEPPO – Dozens of civilian casualties were reported on Friday in bombardment by militants of al-Qaeda on a Kurdish district in Syria’s northern Aleppo province.<br /><br />Militant fighters of al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda wing in Syria, launched an attack on the Kurdish district of Sheikh Maqsoud by mortar fire and “Hell” canon, bombing residential buildings in the war-torn district. <br /><br />“More than 20 civilians were killed and dozens more wonded in the district under heavy bombardment by Nusra and its allies,” rights activist Rezan Hiddo told ARA News in Aleppo.<br /><br />“Rescue teams have pulled dead bodies of dozens of victims from the rubble of the bombed buildings in Sheikh Maqsoud on Friday evening,” the local source reported. “We are still searching for victims stranded under the ruins.” <br /><br />Sheikh Maqsoud has been repeatedly exposed to Nusra-led attacks over the past few months, amid sporadic clashes between the Islamists and Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG)–who are in control of the district. <br /><br />Hiddo pointed out that the Sheikh Maqsoud district suffers a sharp shortage of medicine and food supplies as a result of siege imposed by al-Nusra Front and the Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham.<br /><br />This comes just one day after Turkey’s military stationed on the Syrian border bombed the Kurdish city of Afrin and nearby villages in northwestern Aleppo, which caused casualties among civilians. The attack, which took place in the midnight on Thursday, hit residential neighborhoods in Afrin and its suburbs. Afrin is under the control of Kurdish forces from the People’s Protection Units (YPG). The city and its countryside have sheltered thousands of displaced people from war-torn Aleppo. <br /><br />The Turkish bombardment has also reached the villages of Deir Ballout, Hammam, Firera, Hasna, Sanar and Hakjeh –administratively linked to Afrin. Dozens of civilian casualties, including children, were reported in the heavy artillery shelling by the Turkish army on Thursday.<br /><br />Reporting by: Siman Jiwan <br /><br />Source: ARA NewsDeuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-86336552988913239442016-02-20T17:55:53.731-05:002016-02-20T17:55:53.731-05:00Assad will be allowed to stay in power.
400k syri...Assad will be allowed to stay in power.<br /><br />400k syrians and others will be slaughtered.<br /><br />a few million arabs will be shoved up the ass of europe, destabilizing it (All Putin's plan)<br /><br />Hezbollah and Iran will now be allowed (thanks obama) to sit on the golan heights and southern syria's border.<br /><br />Russia will pocket 12 billion in weapon sales to Iran....<br /><br />then the war will start...What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57731950290290145962016-02-20T17:55:24.232-05:002016-02-20T17:55:24.232-05:00Syrian government forces fought off the heating po...Syrian government forces fought off the heating power plant in the Neir al-Hosn settlement in the northwestern Syria's province of Aleppo, according to a source.<br /><br /><b>BEIRUT (Sputnik) – Syrian government forces have regained control over the heating power plant in the northwestern province of Aleppo, a military source told RIA Novosti on Saturday.</b><br /><br /><br />Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160220/1035106555/syrian-army-aleppo.html#ixzz40kf53yrJDeuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-11484238245614713192016-02-20T17:52:31.269-05:002016-02-20T17:52:31.269-05:00REUTERS
Syria’s army and allies, backed by Russia...REUTERS<br /><br /><b>Syria’s army and allies, backed by Russian air strikes, recaptured 18 villages from Islamic State fighters in eastern Aleppo province on Saturday, a monitoring group said.</b><br /><br />The advance extended their control of parts of a road running towards the jihadist group's stronghold of Raqqa, and built on gains made in assaults that intensified sharply earlier this month.<br /><br />Damascus's offensive, drawing heavily on Russian air cover and ground support from Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, has brought the Syrian army to within 25 km (15 miles) of Turkey's border.<br /><br />The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syria's army and allied fighters recaptured 18 villages east of Aleppo, bringing under their control some 40 km (25 miles) of a highway that leads from the city to Raqqa.<br /><br />Syrian state television also said its armed forces had captured several villages in the area from Islamic State.<br /><br />The Syrian army in November fought its way to the Kweires military air base that had been besieged by Islamic State in eastern Aleppo province. Saturday's advances took place to the west of the base.<br /><br />Russia intervened in Syria's nearly five-year-old civil war in September with an air campaign to bolster Assad. Its air strikes have hit Islamic State targets but mostly other insurgents, including Western- and Turkish-backed fighters.<br /><br />U.S.-led air strikes are also hitting Islamic State in areas it controls in Raqqa, Deir al-Zor and Hasaka provinces in the north and east of the country.<br /><br />(Reporting by John Davison; editing by Andrew Roche)<br /><br />Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-91438556760454982672016-02-20T17:49:46.967-05:002016-02-20T17:49:46.967-05:00A word on the minimum wage. The difference betwee...A word on the minimum wage. The difference between an umemployment rate of, say, 3.8 and 4.2 might be an extra 2 weeks unemployed. BUT, for the next, say, 5 years, you make $600.00 / week, not $320.00 / wk.<br /><br />It's almost impossible to make the case that the poor working stiff (or, <i>stiffess</i>) comes out worse with a higher minimum wage.galopn2https://www.blogger.com/profile/10149969176825932175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-40383192254941133582016-02-20T17:48:05.581-05:002016-02-20T17:48:05.581-05:00Here is your confession!!!
ratSat Feb 20, 05:47:0...Here is your confession!!!<br /><br />ratSat Feb 20, 05:47:00 PM EST<br />I have killed many kids.What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-37874242346637079152016-02-20T17:48:02.402-05:002016-02-20T17:48:02.402-05:00MEANWHILE BACK IN SYRIA
After saying US cooperati...MEANWHILE BACK IN SYRIA<br /><br />After saying US cooperation with Russia in the Syrian conflict doesn’t extend beyond basic flight safety rules, the Pentagon has revealed it gave the Russian military the locations of US special forces in Syria, in the hope Russian aircraft would avoid the area.<br /><br />The disclosure reveals a modest breakthrough in military–to-military communication and cooperation between the US and Russia beyond the very basic “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) signed in October last year which focused on safety protocols for both Russian and American air crews operating in Syrian airspace.<br /><br />“We provided a geographical area that we asked them to stay out of because of the risk to US forces,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times.<br /><br />The request was an attempt to maintain special forces’ safety “in a dangerous situation.” It was made outside the scope of the flight safety memorandum, Cook said.<br /><br />Up to this point, the Russian military “has honored this request,” he added.<br /><br />The MOU between the US and Russia arrived in October 2015, after the Russian Air Force began intense strikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS/ISIL) in Syria. Currently the only official document regulating the two militaries’ conduct, it is limited in scope because Moscow and Washington have sharply different military goals in Syria.<br /><br />While Russia is focused on defeating IS and paving the way for a peaceful solution to the conflict, Washington and its Western allies accuse Moscow of targeting “moderate” opposition who are fighting the embattled government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. <br /><br />In December 2015, the US began deploying special forces teams of up to 50 operators into northeastern Syria to support Syrian rebel groups fighting there. Cook said that around the same time, high-level Defense Department officials shared information on the general location of those troops with the Russian Ministry of Defense. He declined to say whether the US and Russia had any formal written agreement.<br /><br />Air Force Lieutenant General Charles Brown Jr., head of the US Air Force Central Command, told journalists in a briefing from his office in Qatar that the request to Russia was informal. <br /><br />“I don’t have any assurances, really, from the Russians. But we told them … these general areas where we have coalition forces. And we don’t want them to strike there because all it’s going to do is escalate things,” Brown told reporters, as quoted by the Military Times.<br /><br />“The Russians have actually outlined some areas — some of the airfields that they're worried about, that they don't want us flying close to, and really, typically, we don't fly there anyway. So, that hasn't been an issue.”<br /><br />Lt. Gen. Brown repeatedly referred to “operational security” and declined to say publicly where US special forces troops are operating in Syria.<br /><br /><br />https://www.rt.com/news/333099-russia-pentagon-data-exchange/<br /><br />Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.com