Tag: Syria

Can’t We Just Leave Syria Alone?

Guest Post by Ron Paul

Assad was supposed to be gone already. President Obama thought it would be just another “regime change” operation and perhaps Assad would end up like Saddam Hussein or Yanukovych. Or maybe even Gaddafi. But he was supposed to be gone. The US spent billions to get rid of him and even provided weapons and training to the kinds of radicals that attacked the United States on 9/11.

But with the help of his allies, Assad has nearly defeated this foreign-sponsored insurgency.

The US fought him every step of the way. Each time the Syrian military approached another occupied city or province, Washington and its obedient allies issued the usual warnings that Assad was not liberating territory but was actually seeking to kill more of his own people.

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Grand Bargain Update: As Stakes Rise in Syria So Does the Fake News

Guest Post by Tom Luongo

The hardest part of this job is the predictability of it.  Syria’s ‘civil war’ is nearly over.  As forces gather to begin ridding Idlib province of Al-Qaeda and other ‘rebel’ factions, the posturing and rhetoric become more overblown.

Israel and the U.S. need to make a show of force here to prove to the world they are still in some measure of control over Syria’s fate.  That manifests itself as threats from senior U.S. officials, like Crazy John Bolton, to President Bashar al-Assad to not use chemical weapons again.

The Russians pre-empted this narrative by imploring the U.S. to simply stay out of the way in Idlib and the problem of Al-Qaeda in Syria will be over soon.  It worked well in Dara’a just a few weeks ago.

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They Knew Too Much

Via Oriental Review,

The countries of the West used Israel to evacuate members of the White Helmets from southern Syria.  They couldn’t be allowed to fall into the hands of the Syrian government  – at least, not while they are still alive.

Essential human-rights defenders

Damascus is almost finished liberating southwestern Syria. The military’s Operation Basalt was extremely successful, allowing them to regain control of the occupied provinces of Quneitra and Daraa(at present the Syrian army has only a small chunk of land left to liberate from the jihadists).  Many of the local gangs simply surrendered. Those militants who wanted to remain underwent a procedure of reconciliation with the authorities, while the others were put onto green buses and sent to Idlib.

However, those militants included some very valuable specimens — members of the “Syrian civil defense”, or, as they are more simply known, “the ​​White Helmets.”

If they were taken prisoner, that would be a serious problem for the US and its allies, since the members of that organization might have a lot to say once they were in front of the cameras. And the damage caused by their statements would be far worse than the fallout over the admissions made by Hassan Diab — the boy the “helmets” named as a victim of a chemical attack in Douma, who admitted that the attack had been staged for the photographers. And it would be so much worse, simply because the White Helmets — or at least their leaders — knew so much more.

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Truth & Bullshit in the Digital Advertising Age

By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com

In sales and advertising it’s always a numbers game.  That is to say the more people are impressed upon with a certain pitch, or spiel as it were, the larger the response will be during any given campaign or promotional event.

In advertising, “points” measure percentages of given populations and can be targeted to select demographics (called Target Rating Points) or even subjective measurements (called Index Rating Points) like the propensity to purchase in any given market.

Furthermore “Gross Impressions” quantify the approximate number and cost per thousands of duplicate people reached within a certain demographic; whereas “Reach” and “Frequency” represent math equations based upon algorithms involving unduplicated people impressed upon within a certain demographic and how many times they were imprinted with any given ad or message.

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Israel Shoots Down Syrian Fighter Jet

Via Zero Hedge

Israel has shot down a Syrian fighter jet that penetrated Israeli airspace on Tuesday, the Israeli army said.  According to the IDF spokesperson, the Russian-made Sukhoi was under surveillance when it entered some two kilometers into Israeli airspace and was shot down by two Patriot missiles.

Earlier, Israel’s missile defense systems were activated as sirens went off in Israeli communities across the Golan Heights, near the Syria border Haaretz reported.

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Despite US and Israeli Objections, Russia and Iran Remain Committed to Fighting Terrorism in the Levant

Sorry, There Is Zero Chance of Putin Ditching Iran in Syria

Ahead of Helsinki Russian diplomats are repeating loudly that Iran is in Syria legally

Hamidreza Azizi Wed, Jul 11, 2018

The Finnish capital of Helsinki will host a summit July 16 between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Amid preparations for the meeting, speculation has been raised about the topics that may be discussed by the two presidents. Although the formal agenda has yet to be announced, one thing is certain: The Syrian crisis and prospects for engagement between Moscow and Washington on the war-torn country will likely form a great part of what Putin and Trump will discuss — and possibly agree upon.

Are Bibi and Bolton in the Wheel House Now?

Guest Post by Patrick J. Buchanan

Are Bibi and Bolton in the Wheel House Now?

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Brushing aside the anguished pleas of our NATO allies, President Trump Tuesday contemptuously trashed the Iranian nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.

Prime Minister Theresa May of Great Britain, President Emmanuel Macron of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were put on notice that their ties to Iran are to be severed, or secondary sanctions will be imposed on them.

Driving the point home, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin ordered Airbus to cancel its $19 billion contract to sell 100 commercial planes to Iran.

Who is cheering Trump’s trashing of the treaty?

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America’s Word Is Worthless

Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts

We can now dismiss all hope that Trump’s campaign promises to pull out of Syria, normalize relations with Russia and stop the offshoring of American jobs will ever become US policies. By dishonoring the US government’s word and pulling out of the Iran nuclear non-proliferation agreement, an agreement signed by the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China, and Iran, President Trump has revealed that his regime is totally in the hands of the Zionist warmongers.

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Israel Threatens Assad: “If You Continue Allowing Iran To Operate Out Of Syria, It Will Be Your End”

One month after Trump launched another 105 Tomahawk missiles at Syria, the latest US assault on a sovereign nation has been mostly forgotten, but not to Israel which keeps reminding the world that another provocation to be follower shortly by another regional war, is just a matter of time.

Amid alleged Israeli tensions that an expected retaliatory attack by Iran – whose Syria-based forces Israel has repeatedly attacked in the past month – is imminent, Energy Minister, and cabinet member Yuval Steinitz issued a direct threat against the Syrian ruler, when during a Ynet studio interview on Monday he said that, “if Syrian President Bashar Assad continues allowing the Iranians to operate out of Syria, it would be the end of him, the end of his regime.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/assad%20steinitz_1.jpg?itok=zcRcVdmxSyrian President Assad will be eliminated and his regime toppled if he does not stop Iran, Israel Energy Minister Steinitz warned.

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What May 2018 Has In Store: It’s Difficult To Understate The Looming Dangers

Authored by Peter Korzun via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

The month of May is always associated with V-E Day. The sentiments of “never again” were strong 73 years ago, in 1945 when the UN was founded. Since then Europe has put a huge amount of effort into creating a unique security system to prevent armed conflicts. It was never perfect, but by and large it worked. Other continents used to look on with envy and try to establish security regimes of their own.

Multiple agreements are still in force, working to prevent the worst scenarios, but today they appear to be somewhat forgotten and are failing to meet their objectives. Yet by no stretch of the imagination would anyone have imagined that May 2018 would be a month spent teetering on the brink of war, with the experts left trying to guess when it will ignite, how far it will spread, and how many actors are likely to be involved. It’s scary but that’s where we are. It’s never been this tense since the worst days of the Cold War.

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What Can Be Done?

Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts

It is up to Europe whether or not the Earth dies in nuclear Armageddon.

European governments do not realize their potential to save the world from Washington’s aggression, because the western Europeans are accustomed to being Washington’s vassal states since the end of World War 2, and the eastern and central Europeans have accepted Washington’s vassalage since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Vassalage pays well if all the costs are not counted.

By joining NATO, the eastern and central Europeans permitted Washington to move US military presence to Russia’s borders. This military presence on Russia’s borders gave Washington undue confidence that Russia also could be coerced into a vassal state existence. Despite the dire fate of the two finest armies ever assembled—Napoleon’s Grand Army and that of Germany’s Wehrmacht—Washington hasn’t learned that the two rules of warfare are: (1) Don’t march on Russia. (2) Don’t march on Russia.

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The Syrian Cisis Escalates

Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts

As I wrote two weeks ago, the Syrian crisis is only in its beginning stages. https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2018/04/17/crisis-beginning-stages/ The assault on Syrian military positions last night, apparently a US/Israeli operation, is evidence that the crisis continues to develop. https://www.timesofisrael.com/resonant-syria-strike-suggests-coordinated-us-israel-message-to-russia-and-iran/

There are four mutually reinforcing causes of the crisis:

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“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday”: 13 Random Revelations from April, 2018

By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com

As we travel the stormy seas on the way to our forthcoming destination, thirteen revelations from April, 2018 are now randomly recorded by this mate as follows:

1.) According to a April 22-24, 2018 Fox News poll of 1,014 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide:   Two-thirds said it is at least “somewhat important” that Mueller’s Russia investigation continues, and “56 percent think it’s likely the special council’s probe will find that Donald Trump committed criminal or impeachable offenses”.

2.)  A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 70% of Democratic voters would like to see impeachment hearings begin if Democrats regain control of the House and Senate.

3.) At a rally in Washington Township, Michigan on Saturday, April 28th, Trump claimed Republicans will retain the House and Senate in the 2018 midterm elections because of the economy:

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