Week Eleven of the Russian Intervention in Syria: a step back from the brink?

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This article was originally written for the Unz Review:http://www.unz.com/tsaker/week-eleven-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-a-step-back-from-the-brink

This has been an amazing week. While last week I concluded that “The only way to avoid a war is to finally give up, even if that is initially denied publicly, on the “Assad must go” policy”. Now it is true that various US officials, including Kerry, did make statements about the fact that Assad need not go right now, that a “transition” was important or that “the institutions of the state” had to be preserved, but of course what I, and many others really meant, was that the US needed to fundamentally change its policy towards the Syrian conflict. Furthermore, since Turkey committed an act of war against Russia under the “umbrella” of the US and NATO, this also created a fantastically dangerous situation in which a rogue state like Turkey could have the impression of impunity because of its membership in NATO. Here again, what was needed was not just a positive statement, but a fundamental change in US policy.

Ukraine SITREP December 13th, 2015 by Scott

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It’s been over a month since my last Ukraine SITREP.
and the Saker’s Ukraine SITREP covering the latest “democratic” elections in Ukraine.

Nothing has changed since then. It seems that Ukraine experiences Groundhog Day over and over again. Even worse, since Russia has commenced its fight against ISIS in the Middle East, since the beginning of the Middle Eastern and African refugee crisis in Europe, since the Paris terror attack and since the closing of the EU borders and the establishment of the European Union army, Ukraine has been all but forgotten in the Western media. Unfairly so, because everything that’s going on in Ukraine, starting with the fascist putsch in February 2014, is a horrifying sick farce, but a very European farce nevertheless, with its brutal anti-culture, anti-history, and anti-Russian nature.

The Petro-Islamic extremism phenomena

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by Nauman Sadiq

In its July 2013 report [1] the European Parliament identified the Wahhabi-Salafi roots of global terrorism, but the report conveniently absolved the Western powers of their culpability and chose to overlook the West’s role in nurturing Islamic extremism and violent Jihadism all over the Islamic world, especially when it used the Jihadists as proxies during the Cold War against the erstwhile Soviet Union; and even today, during the Libyan Jihad against the Gaddafi regime in 2011 and the Syrian Jihad against the Alawi (Shi’a) Assad regime. It is an incontrovertible fact that the US-led Soviet-Afghan Jihad gave birth to the Islamic extremists like Al Qaeda and Taliban for the first time in history and then again the Libyan and Syrian Jihads 2011-onward spawned myriads of Islamic jihadist groups especially the Islamic State.

EU Sanctions on Russia to be Extended – No Veto or Discussion Allowed

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This article was originally written for Russia Insider: http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/eu-sanctions-russia-be-extended-no-veto-or-discussion-allowed/ri11858

In conversations with Russian news agency TASS EU diplomats and officials outline the undemocratic means whereby the decision to extend the sanctions will be imposed.

by Alexander Mercouris

Recently I wrote a piece for Russia Insider discussing how the EU really works.

I pointed out that the veto small states supposedly have over key EU decisions is a fiction.

Decisions are made by a small group who decide things between themselves and who because they control the EU’s bureaucracy can impose their decisions on everyone else.

An EU official – someone described as “close to the European Council” (the EU’s main policy making body) has basically confirmed as much in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS.

The subject discussed was the sectoral sanctions the EU has imposed on Russia, which are due to expire on 31st January 2016.

Chess in the Age of ISIS

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by Tom Mysiewicz

“Iraq is breaking up before our eyes and it would appear that the creation of an independent Kurdish state is a foregone conclusion.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to John Kerry in Paris, 26 June 2014

“The goal is to proclaim a ‘Kurdistan’ straddling the border between Iraq and Syria, and then expel the Syrian populations who live there, followed by the transfer of 10 million Turkish Kurds to this new state.”

Thierry Meyssan, 2015

Unfolding now is a multidimensional chess game comprising centuries-old animosities, petrodollars, pipelines, a neo-Ottoman sultanate, plans for balkanizing the Mid East into manageable ethnic states, Israeli energy plans and oligarchs, Neoconservatives, the U.S. military-industrial complex, Daesh-ISIS, NATO, the EU, Kurdistan, Ukraine and a gaggle of nation states. I first addressed this hard-to-fathom situation in my 2014 piece “War With ISIS: Multiplexing a New World Order.”

Week 10 of the Russian Intervention in Syria: the “Assad must go” policy leads to war with Russia, Iran & Hezbollah

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This column was written for the Unz Review:http://www.unz.com/tsaker/week-ten-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-the-assad-must-go-policy-leads-to-war-with-russia-iran-and-hezbollah/

The “news” that Israel and Turkey are systematically violating international law is hardly news at all. After all, we all know that Turkey has been regularly bombing the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, that Turkey still illegally occupies northern Cyprus just like the Israelis have been bombing Syria and Lebanon for decades and that they are still illegally occupying Palestine. 

Swann Galleries Africa-American Fine Art Live Auction

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This auction, African-American Fine Art, starts at 2:30 PM EST on Tuesday, December 15 and will feature 150 lots of exclusive artwork. Invaluable is teaming up with Swann Auction Galleries to allow remote bidding online. The style of art in this auction includes cityscapes, portrait, abstract.

Here are a few noteworthy lots:

Lot 49: Norman Lewis (1909-1979), Untitled

Estimated Price: $250,000 - $350,000

Oil on linen canvas, circa 1958. 1295x1625 mm; 51x64 inches. Signed in oil, lower left. This masterful mid-century composition is a newly discovered and important example of Norman Lewis's painting. In 1955 Norman Lewis won the Carnegie International Award in Painting making him the first African-American artist to receive this prestigious prize. Then in 1956, Lewis was selected to represent the United States in American Artists Paint the City, an exhibition of 46 works by 36. Lewis joined fellow Willard Gallery artists Lionel Feininger and Mark Tobey; he and Jacob Lawrence were the only African-American artists included.

Russia in an invisible war

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Source: http://oko-planet.su/politik/politiklist/301881-rostislav-ischenko-rossiya-v-nevidimoy-voyne.html

Rostislav Ischenko

Translated by Seva

Russia in an invisible war

How could Russia in just 20 years, without wars or other perturbations, rise from a semi-colony to an acknowledged world leader, equal among the top ones?

Kitchen “strategists”, who sincerely believe that massive nuclear strike is the universal solution to any international problem (even the hottest one, close to military confrontation), are unhappy about the moderate position of the Russian leadership in the crisis with Turkey. However, they deem insufficient even direct participation of the Russian military in the Syrian conflict. They are also dissatisfied with the Moscow’s activities on the Ukrainian front.

The Middle East War SITREP December 5th, 2015 by John Rambo

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A quick note: I do apologize for how late this SitRep is. Unfortunately I too must obey the great capitalistic system and submit to their demands (holiday hours) and the CIA is not known for its Christmas bonuses.

It seems great events unfold every 2 weeks in Syria. The downing of a Russian Su-24 by a Turkish F-16 fighter has been the highlight. Russian retaliation has been a complete exposure of Turkish connections within the Islamic States oil trade, the near carpet bombings and artillery barrages of the Islamist Turkmen frontline near the Turkish border inside Syria, and the a more active role in interfering in Turkish geostrategic opportunities. [Source] [Source] [Source]

The Western media quickly rewrote the narrative to obfuscate the facts and to reinforce falsehoods (such as the fabrication that the Su-24 was inside Turkish space when it was shot down and that Turkey responded appropriately). Turkey quickly ran to NATO to hold an emergency meeting.

NATO Is A Terror Organisation By Any Standard ! See Proof

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After this proof, If anyone ever had any doubts about the involvement of NATO (Turkey and Americans) in Daesh (ISIS) then that is no longer necessary. All evidence has been given. NATO is a terror organisation by any standard.

Russian Defense Ministry has presented photos of oil delivery convoys at Syria-Turkey border, the head of the Russian General Staff’s operative command said.

The general staff has irrefutable evidence on Turkey's involvement in illegal oil trade. Moscow has called on Turkey to open access to the places where, according to the retrieved Russian intel, Daesh oil trade centers are located:
"If there is nothing there — then the territories in question should be inspected," the Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov stressed. 

The NATO destruction of the RuAF SU-24 Fencer and Turkish murder of the Russian servicemen

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Russia’s Interdiction of ISIS-Turkey Oil Trade and Attacks on Turkmen jihadi militants Poses Risk of Enlargement of Syrian Conflict

UPDATED

By: JiminNH

The increasing velocity of events in Syria indicates that the conflict may be ready to spill over into a larger conflagration and direct conflict between the forces of the AZ hegemon and the Resistance thereto. A couple of apparently un-related events have rapidly coalesced into armed conflict between an NATO member state and Russia, the consequences of which are yet to be revealed, but unlikely to be anything but more fuel on the fires of the not only the Syrian conflict but the war between the AZ empire and Russia.

Turkey Attacks Russia in Syria SITREP by Scott

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Official statement of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation

Russian Su-24 aircraft shot down by Turkish F-16 fighter on its way to the Hmeymim airbase

The Russian Su-24 aircraft was shot down on its way to the Hmeymim airbase in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic by a Turkish F-16 fighter.

Analysis of the objective monitoring data definitely showed that there had not been any violation of the Turkish air space.

Nigerian Passport Renewal: Renewal application form and fees.

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Renewing a Nigerian passport can come from a lot of diverse reasons and can be done without breaking a sweat to government and the general population. Nigeria Passport renewal can be finished over the Internet, via mail, or in person at an a government passport office. (There is a great online Nigerian Passport Renewal service than can also help you with Payment and send all the necessary documents to you via e-mail for processing at the nearest Nigerian consulate or Embassy. There method of Payment is Paypal or Money transfer. See that service here)

What is Daesh’s endgoal?

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by Non-Zionist Anglo Observer

The Saker’s excellent analysis on the position in Syria ‘after Paris’ poses several possibilities as to why Daesh appears to have a death wish, but frankly confesses to finding none of them satisfactory.

Under such circumstances, it is usually the best policy to eschew inherently unprovable conspiracy theories  (particularly since unrealistic ones do us all a grave disservice by potentially leading people to reject our points about the actually barely concealed and very real ‘conspiracy’ of the Anglo-Zionists and their allies to use Wahhabi terrorists as a weapon of foreign policy).

Better, I would suggest, to reach for the simple razor this predictive text stubbornly refuses me to allow to name!

USA SitRep November 21 by Auslander

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SitRep, Auslander goes behind enemy lines

I have just returned from a trip to USA. It matters not why I had to go, it simply suffices to say it was not my choice and it will in all probability be my last journey west baring an emergency that requires my presence. I am getting old and such long journeys are pretty hard in regards to the time and strain of so many hours in flight.

7th of the Russian Intervention in Syria: dramatic surge in intensity

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This column was written for the Unz Review:http://www.unz.com/tsaker/week-seven-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-dramatic-surge-in-intensity/

This week was clearly dominated by two major events: the terrorist attacks in Paris and the Russian official declaration that Kogalymavia Flight 9268 was, indeed, destroyed by a bomb.

First, I would notice that contrary to so many prediction that the Russians, Egyptians and other nations involved would lie and cover up this attack, this did not happen. Both the Russians and the Egyptians were open and honest about this attack from day 1. There is something to be learned here: while some politicians clearly have lost the ability to speak the truth even if they tried to, others did not. While lying is the standard operating procedure for most (all?) of “western” (Empire-run) states, this is still not the case everywhere else. It is simply wrong to assume that Russia is some kind of “anti-USA” and that the Kremlin has a policy of systematic deception like the White House. To the extend that Russia could be considered an “anti-USA” this ought to include categorically different methods and motives.

Samson Siasia's mother kidnapped in Bayelsa

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Madame Ogere Siasia, the Mother of Samson Siasia, Nigeria's former international soccer star and current coach of the Under - 23 Dream team was captured from her home at Odoni community of Sagama Local Council Area of Bayelsa State in the early hours of today Nov. seventeenth.

Naija Gist reported that Observers say the armed kidnappers raged the home of the lady, dragged her out of her home and into a waiting  motorcycle. The Bayelsa state police command's representative, ASP Ansinim Butswat confirmed the scene and said the police is working towards saving her.

ISIL Financed by 40 Countries, Including G20 Member States - Putin

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Putin said at the G20 summit that Russia has presented examples of terrorism financing by individual businessmen from 40 countries, including from member states of the G20.

"I provided examples related to our data on the financing of Islamic State units by natural persons in various countries. The financing comes from 40 countries, as we established, including some G20 members," Putin told reporters following the summit.

Why France?

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 Nigerian News
First I wish to express my condolences to the families of all the victims of the terror attacks last week. No matter the reason for the attacks, there will always be innocent victims; those should be remembered.

What I write below are some stray thoughts on a question that has been bugging me since I heard the news regarding the attacks in Paris. Maybe I am completely off the mark here yet I keep wondering: Why all these attacks took place in France?

Why not Brussels or Amsterdam or London or Rome or Berlin?

Week 6 of the Russian Intervention: A 1st major success for the Syrian Forces

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This column was originally written for the Unz Review:http://www.unz.com/tsaker/week-six-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-a-first-major-success-for-the-syrian-armed-forces/

Finally. After weeks of gruelling combat the Syrian armed forces have liberated the Kuweyres air base in northern Syria. This is a huge victory for the Syrians because during the 2,5 year long siege of the airbase it had become an important symbol of the Syrian determination to resist the Takfiris in general and, especially, Daesh which had deployed its best fighters to maintain the siege of the base and prevents its liberation. In fact, the Takfiris did resist with everything they had up to the last moment. For those of you interested in video and photos of the combats and liberation of Kuweyres I would recommend the site of Colonel Cassad and specifically these posts: (in Russian)

http://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/2472071.html

http://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/2470426.html