Ukraine, Crimea, Syria, Israel, Iran, Turkey, Putin, China, and World War III

[Rocky_Shorz]

even Fulford has recently admitted right now Sorcha is from Naval intelligence, I am watching news of Kurdistan rising...

if up to 90% of this article is real, creating new borders, is what the whole region has been waiting for...

I don't drop Sorcha into view outside of con

spiracies often, but when I do it is a first release of whaat everyone will be sharing soon.

come on Bill, half the fun is seeking the truth of what is real, we are open to all channels coming at us...

life is good Bro,

Coincidences are daily events...

[Wide-Eyed]

School children play with a ball in a playground in Ras al-Ain city, Syria. © Rodi Said / Reuters



Let's hope and pray the children survive this 'War on Terror' and we can start to implement "new normal" and take back the Peace.Job done: Russia saved Syria from US regime change… now it’s over to diplomacy

Published time: 15 Mar, 2016 12:50
Edited time: 15 Mar, 2016 13:03
Get short URL


School children play with a ball in a playground in Ras al-Ain city, Syria. © Rodi Said / Reuters


Five years of war, five months of Russian military intervention, and now peace talks are underway. It’s as simple as that.

[JRS]

Wow! If the Sorcha Faal site is from US Intelligence (as Bill, Rocky, and Fulford have stated) then I find the article that Rocky posted to be REALLY interesting! Is it even possible that a group in US Intelligence is considering the creation of new borders (maybe along ethnic and religious lines-thereby promoting peace, rather than across ethnic and religious lines-guaranteeing friction) in the Mideast?

If it is true, then the ramifications are huge. The borders instituted by the Brits after the Lawrence of Arabia days were guaranteed to cause huge, continuous problems in the Mideast (divide and conquer?).

Seems to me the globalists would be against this-preferring to keep those in the Mideast at each other's throats. I'm surprised to see something like this in print! Doesn't US Intelligence check with British Intelligence before something like this gets out?

[ks4ever]

"Fighting Islamic State: The Road To Raqqa”
Here is a terrific report worth watching from SkyNews embedded with SDF/YPG
*Alex Crawford, the wonderful woman reporter who reported from the back of a Toyota gun truck, riding with the Libyan rebels into Tripoli.

https://youtu.be/MzPiuwzEtuY

[Hervé]

This is Why Putin is the Most Unpredictable Politician in the World

© Sputnik/ Mikhail Klimentyev

Politics18:10 16.03.2016
(updated 18:25 16.03.2016)
Get short URL

Two days have passed since President Vladimir Putin's surprise announcement that Russia would begin withdrawing the main part of its military forces from Syria. Volumes of analyses have already been written on the subject, but there's one important thing most of them seem to miss.

On Monday, Putin announced that the Russian air operation in Syria had largely achieved its objectives, and that Russia would begin a withdrawal of its main forces from the country.

"With the participation of the Russian military…the Syrian military and patriotic Syrian forces have been able to achieve a fundamental turnaround in the fight against international terrorism, and have taken the initiative in nearly all areas to create the conditions for the start of a peace process," Putin said, in a working meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Since then, volumes of analysis have been written, both in Russian and foreign media, on what the move really means.

For his part, Russian television journalist Vladimir Solovyov suggested that what many analysts have missed, and what they should go back and review, is the promise Putin made at the very beginning of Russia's air campaign.

In an interview with Solovyov recorded on October 10, Putin, asked how long the operation would last, offered an answer which some will find eerily prescient today.

The success of the Syrian army offensive, Putin said,

"depends above all on the Syrian army itself and on the Syrian authorities. We cannot commit ourselves to more than is reasonable and have never done so. I said from the start that the active phase of our operations on Syrian soil will be limited in time to the Syrian army's offensive. Coming back to your earlier question, our task is to stabilize the legitimate government and establish conditions that will make it possible to look for political compromise."

With a Moscow-Washington brokered ceasefire in place, Syria's government stabilized and Daesh and Nusra Front terrorists on the run, it becomes instantly clear what the president meant when he said that Russia's objectives have been "generally fulfilled."

In other words, Solovyov wryly noted:

"it's not by accident that Putin is called the most unpredictable politician in the world, because he constantly does what he says he is going to do."

Related:
Russia's Military Withdrawal From Syria Surprise for Many in EU

[Hervé]

Map of the different factions as of recent:

http://cs622323.vk.me/v622323045/443d3/ADnUzbFtIwI.jpg

[Hervé]

2012 Clinton Email Reveals Syria War All About Securing Israeli Hegemony

Brandon Martinez March 19, 2016

Hilary Clinton candidly outlined US plans to overthrow Assad as a prelude to weakening Iran in a 2012 email released by Wikileaks. Clinton argued that this criminal policy of regime change in Syria was being pursued in large part to help Israel isolate Iran and thereby weaken Tel Aviv’s other regional foes like Hezbollah and Hamas by strategically cutting them off “from [their] Iranian sponsor since Syria would no longer be a transit point for Iranian training, assistance and missiles.”

Clinton noted that the operation in Syria was in part designed to curtail Iran’s nuclear program so that Israel could maintain its “nuclear monopoly” and thereby continue to dominate the region militarily. “The best way to help Israel deal with Iran’s growing nuclear capability is to help the people of Syria overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad,” Clinton wrote in the email. She further pontificated:

Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s civil war may seem unconnected, but they are. For Israeli leaders, the real threat from a nuclear-armed Iran is not the prospect of an insane Iranian leader launching an unprovoked Iranian nuclear attack on Israel that would lead to the annihilation of both countries. What Israeli military leaders really worry about — but cannot talk about — is losing their nuclear monopoly. An Iranian nuclear weapons capability would not only end that nuclear monopoly but could also prompt other adversaries, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to go nuclear as well. The result would be a precarious nuclear balance in which Israel could not respond to provocations with conventional military strikes on Syria and Lebanon, as it can today. If Iran were to reach the threshold of a nuclear weapons state, Tehran would find it much easier to call on its allies in Syria and Hezbollah to strike Israel, knowing that its nuclear weapons would serve as a deterrent to Israel responding against Iran itself.

Later in the email Clinton bluntly opined: “Bringing down Assad would not only be a massive boon to Israel’s security, it would also ease Israel’s understandable fear of losing its nuclear monopoly.” She then stated that the US would achieve this by arming Syrian rebels:

Washington should start by expressing its willingness to work with regional allies like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to organize, train and arm Syrian rebel forces. The announcement of such a decision would, by itself, likely cause substantial defections from the Syrian military. Then, using territory in Turkey and possibly Jordan, U.S. diplomats and Pentagon officials can start strengthening the opposition. … Arming the Syrian rebels and using western air power to ground Syrian helicopters and airplanes is a low-cost high payoff approach.

The full email is so incriminating that I will re-print the whole thing here:

---------------------------------

UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05794498 Date: 11/30/2015

The best way to help Israel deal with Iran’s growing nuclear capability is to help the people of Syria overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad.

Negotiations to limit Iran’s nuclear program will not solve Israel’s security dilemma. Nor will they stop Iran from improving the crucial part of any nuclear weapons program — the capability to enrich uranium. At best, the talks between the world’s major powers and Iran that began in Istanbul this April and will continue in Baghdad in May will enable Israel to postpone by a few months a decision whether to launch an attack on Iran that could provoke a major Mideast war.

Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s civil war may seem unconnected, but they are. For Israeli leaders, the real threat from a nuclear-armed Iran is not the prospect of an insane Iranian leader launching an unprovoked Iranian nuclear attack on Israel that would lead to the annihilation of both countries. What Israeli military leaders really worry about — but cannot talk about — is losing their nuclear monopoly. An Iranian nuclear weapons capability would not only end that nuclear monopoly but could also prompt other adversaries, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to go nuclear as well. The result would be a precarious nuclear balance in which Israel could not respond to provocations with conventional military strikes on Syria and Lebanon, as it can today. If Iran were to reach the threshold of a nuclear weapons state, Tehran would find it much easier to call on its allies in Syria and Hezbollah to strike Israel, knowing that its nuclear weapons would serve as a deterrent to Israel responding against Iran itself.

Back to Syria. It is the strategic relationship between Iran and the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria that makes it possible for Iran to undermine Israel’s security — not through a direct attack, which in the thirty years of hostility between Iran and Israel has never occurred, but through its proxies in Lebanon, like Hezbollah, that are sustained, armed and trained by Iran via Syria. The end of the Assad regime would end this dangerous alliance. Israel’s leadership understands well why defeating Assad is now in its interests.

Speaking on CNN’s Amanpour show last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak argued that “the toppling down of Assad will be a major blow to the radical axis, major blow to Iran…. It’s the only kind of outpost of the Iranian influence in the Arab world…and it will weaken dramatically both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.”

Bringing down Assad would not only be a massive boon to Israel’s security, it would also ease Israel’s understandable fear of losing its nuclear monopoly. Then, Israel and the United States might be able to develop a common view of when the Iranian program is so dangerous that military action could be warranted. Right now, it is the combination of Iran’s strategic alliance with Syria and the steady progress in Iran’s nuclear enrichment program that has led Israeli leaders to contemplate a surprise attack — if necessary over the objections of Washington. With Assad gone, and Iran no longer able to threaten Israel through its, proxies, it is possible that the United States and Israel can agree on red lines for when Iran’s program has crossed an unacceptable threshold. In short, the White House can ease the tension that has developed with Israel over Iran by doing the right thing in Syria.

The rebellion in Syria has now lasted more than a year. The opposition is not going away, nor is the regime going to accept a diplomatic solution from the outside. With his life and his family at risk, only the threat or use of force will change the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s mind.

The Obama administration has been understandably wary of engaging in an air operation in Syria like the one conducted in Libya for three main reasons. Unlike the Libyan opposition forces, the Syrian rebels are not unified and do not hold territory. The Arab League has not called for outside military intervention as it did in Libya. And the Russians are opposed.

Libya was an easier case. But other than the laudable purpose of saving Libyan civilians from likely attacks by Qaddafi’s regime, the Libyan operation had no long-lasting consequences for the region. Syria is harder. But success in Syria would be a transformative event for the Middle East. Not only would another ruthless dictator succumb to mass opposition on the streets, but the region would be changed for the better as Iran would no longer have a foothold in the Middle East from which to threaten Israel and undermine stability in the region.

Unlike in Libya, a successful intervention in Syria would require substantial diplomatic and military leadership from the United States. Washington should start by expressing its willingness to work with regional allies like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar to organize, train and arm Syrian rebel forces. The announcement of such a decision would, by itself, likely cause substantial defections from the Syrian military. Then, using territory in Turkey and possibly Jordan, U.S. diplomats and Pentagon officials can start strengthening the opposition. It will take time. But the rebellion is going to go on for a long time, with or without U.S. involvement.

The second step is to develop international support for a coalition air operation. Russia will never support such a mission, so there is no point operating through the UN Security Council. Some argue that U.S. involvement risks a wider war with Russia. But the Kosovo example shows otherwise. In that case, Russia had genuine ethnic and political ties to the Serbs, which don’t exist between Russia and Syria, and even then Russia did little more than complain. Russian officials have already acknowledged they won’t stand in the way if intervention comes.

Arming the Syrian rebels and using western air power to ground Syrian helicopters and airplanes is a low-cost high payoff approach. As long as Washington’s political leaders stay firm that no U.S. ground troops will be deployed, as they did in both Kosovo and Libya, the costs to the United States will be limited. Victory may not come quickly or easily, but it will come. And the payoff will be substantial. Iran would be strategically isolated, unable to exert its influence in the Middle East. The resulting regime in Syria will see the United States as a friend, not an enemy. Washington would gain substantial recognition as fighting for the people in the Arab world, not the corrupt regimes. For Israel, the rationale for a bolt from the blue attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be eased. And a new Syrian regime might well be open to early action on the frozen peace talks with Israel. Hezbollah in Lebanon would be cut off from its Iranian sponsor since Syria would no longer be a transit point for Iranian training, assistance and missiles. All these strategic benefits and the prospect of saving thousands of civilians from murder at the hands of the Assad regime (10,000 have already been killed in this first year of civil war).

With the veil of fear lifted from the Syrian people, they seem determine to fight for their freedom. America can and should help them — and by doing so help Israel and help reduce the risk of a wider war.

--------------------------------

[Hervé]

Syrian Government Forces Regain Control of Palmyra's Historic Area

Sputnik 15:10 23.03.2016
(updated 16:07 23.03.2016) Get short URL

© Wikipedia/ Ulrich Waack

The Syria government forces have regained control of historic area of Palmyra, Syrian brigadier-general said.

"The Syrian army regained control of the historic town of Tadmur (Palmyra) with small weapons," a Syrian brigadier-general told Sputnik. Thus, he emphasized that the town was taken without air assistance. Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, when mass anti-government protests against President Bashar Assad escalated to an armed confrontation between government troops and allied militia on the one hand, and Syrian opposition factions and radical Islamists on the other.

Palmyra has been under Daesh control since May 2015. The terrorist group, which is outlawed in many countries, including Russia and the United States, has already destroyed part of the ancient city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

[Hervé]

Frankenplanes: Croatian MiG-21 jets bought from Ukraine are made of old parts, unable to fly

Published time: 24 Mar, 2016 10:51
Edited time: 24 Mar, 2016 11:01
Get short URL

A Croatian MiG-21 © / Reuters

A scandal is unfolding in Croatia after it was revealed it had bought Soviet-era MiG-21 jets – now unable to fly – that were assembled from dubious parts by Ukraine. The Croatian defense minister has threatened to shoot himself if any wrongdoing in the deal is proved.

Croatian security services and the Defense Ministry have launched an investigation into a 2013 military deal with a Ukrainian company, which is said to have undermined the air force’s combat capabilities.

Under the contract, Croatia paid over $21 million to repair and modernize seven Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jets at Ukrainian plants, and to purchase another five aircraft of the same type there.

But those five MiG-21s were never sold by the Ukrainians “as such,” Jutarnji List newspaper has revealed. In fact, the aircraft were reportedly assembled from dubious obsolete parts coming from all over the world.

According to the newspaper’s sources, there were serious indications that their fuselages came from Bulgaria and their wings from Algeria, while fuel tanks were reportedly of Soviet origin.

Bulgaria previously reported to NATO that it had destroyed its MiG-21s, which raises questions how the Bulgarian parts made their way to Ukraine. The “Algerian” wings had markings in French and also some Cyrillic letters that allowed their origin to be tracked.

Even worse, when Croatian officials came to inspect the five MiGs they wanted to purchase, the Ukrainians substituted the “Lego-like” fighters for jets owned by Yemen, according to the local media.

The overhaul of the seven Croatian jets in Odessa also seemed suspicious from the outset. Under the contract, the air force’s test pilot – Brigadier General Ivan Selak – had to perform flight tests of the “repaired” jets before final handover. But the Ukrainians never allowed him to fly, using “bad weather” or “risk of flying over populated areas” as an excuse. Finally, when the jets were about to fly back to Croatia following the “overhaul,” the Ukrainians cited a “war situation” and instead returned them by truck in a disassembled form.

The military sources told local media they now know for sure that the fighters were simply unable to reach Croatia by air.

Back in Croatia, one of the "repaired" MiGs suffered engine failure while flying at an altitude of 13km, while another jet’s radar reportedly did not work at all. It was further revealed that all the jets still had Soviet-type communication equipment barely compatible with NATO standards. The aircraft also lacked Western-type Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment required by the Croatian Air Force to conduct NATO missions.

All the MiGs that arrived from Ukraine have been destroyed as the air force does not know where they actually came from, a source close to the investigation told Jutarnji List, without elaborating. As a result, the country has essentially lost a key part of its air force, the newspaper notes.

The Ukrainian deal triggered a scandal inside Croatia’s military elite. Defense Minister Ante Kotromanovic, who was in charge when the agreement was signed in 2013, insists the bidding process was transparent and denies any allegations of wrongdoing: “I’m accused of favoring [the Ukrainian bid]. I’ll shoot myself if anyone can prove that I did so.”


Related:NATO arming Ukraine with Soviet weapons – Deputy PM Rogozin

[KiwiElf]

Good grief... those MiGs are older than me, Herve! (That really IS old! )

[Hervé]

^^^ it seems these antics are still flying successful missions in Syria

What does good maintenance do, eh!?

Anyway, remaining on Ukraine's case:


Russia Already Questioned 100,000 Witnesses for Ukrainian 'Nuremberg'

@Maxfux March 23, 2016
Translated by Kristina Kharlova

Russian Investigative Committee is hard at work. Working stubbornly, gently, persistently, collecting information about all the crimes of Ukrainian military and punitive volunteer battalions.

It turns out that quietly, without much noise, a giant amount of evidence about the crimes of Ukrainian armed forces and volunteer battalions is being compiled. The evidence, which sooner or later will come in handy.

This was confirmed by Savchenko's lawyer, Ilya Novikov.

Savchenko's lawyer Ilya Novikov was struck by the volume of documents collected from interviewing the residents of Donbass and told Ukrainian media.

"There is the so-called "big Ukrainian case" under number 201/837072–14. It was called the "big Ukrainian case" among the lawyers, but during the trial against Savchenko suddenly it became clear that the investigators call it the same," - he said, adding that as of fall 2015 more than 100 thousand witnesses have been questioned, 15 thousand were recognized as victims.

"Several rooms at the Investigative Committee are filled with cabinets with volumes of this case, more than 20 investigators are working on it. And from this case, in principle, you can "pinch off" a piece and send it to court," - he said.

What does it mean? That Russia without much fanfare is gathering evidence of crimes. For what? I am sure that this is not done in vain. And that the perpetrators and punishers will appear before our court. And that these tons of evidence will be a good argument to prove the genocide of Donbass population, and at the right time to finally resolve the Donbass issue.

How much more is going on behind the scenes that we don't know about? You can, of course, laugh at "Putin's cunning plans" and other things. But de facto LDPR [Lugansk and Donetsk Republics] are already fully dependent and controlled from Russia. The laws of the republics are being adjusted to ours. Management system, education, etc. - everything is being changed to our standards. Do you think this is all coincidence?

I don't believe in such coincidences...

[Hervé]

Turkey has ‘serious questions’ to answer: Reactions to RT report on post-ISIS town in Syria

Published time: 24 Mar, 2016 18:45
Edited time: 24 Mar, 2016 19:57
Get short URL

Trucks with oil products cross the Syrian-Turkish border. © Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation / Sputnik

The stream of accusations is growing against Ankara over illegal oil trade and support of Islamic State, with politicians and experts calling for Turkey to be held accountable for its actions after a new batch of evidence gathered by RT.

Former UK ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford, has described as “very convincing” a report aired by RT which features piles of oil accounting papers left behind by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) fighters.

“There was plenty of evidence even before these latest – very damning – revelations that Turkey was up to its neck in support for collaboration with Islamic State,” he said.

According to Ford, the “obsession” of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with removing from power his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, and preventing the strengthening of the Kurds in Syria saw Turkey become eager “to stop at nothing, including collaboration with Islamic State terrorists,” Ford stressed.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that if Turkey had sincerely tried to put an end to the activities of Islamic State it could well have gone slow and we wouldn’t perhaps even be having this latest atrocity in Brussels,” the former ambassador stressed.

On Tuesday, 31 people died in the Belgian capital in suicide bomb attacks at the airport and subway. The attacks were later claimed by IS.

Lord Peter Truscott, a life peer in the UK's House of Lords, stressed that Ankara has “serious questions” to answer following the revelations by RT.

“RT's report highlights some alarming evidence that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh [Arabic pejorative term for IS], and is either supporting or turning a blind eye to terrorists crossing its border into Syria. If this is the case, Turkey needs to stop aiding Daesh in its murderous activities,” Lord Truscott stressed.

Matthew Gordon-Banks, a former Senior Research Fellow at the UK Defense Academy and former British MP, told RT in an emailed response that “there is no doubt that Turkey has helped ISIS gain huge revenues in the recent past from illegally selling oil.”

Gordon-Banks also praised Russia’s recent military operation in Syria, saying that it had largely cut IS supply lines, hitting them both economically as well as militarily.

Bernard Monot, a French member of the European Parliament, has slammed Ankara for the double game it’s playing with Europe.

“On the one hand they play along with us in order to get financial assistance from the European Union, but on the other – there is a feeling that they are in talks with IS… there is a feeling that this ‘caliphate’ is working closely with the Turkish president,” Monot told RT.

The joint ventures of Erdogan and Islamic State may include “illicit trade in oil and, of course, training camps, which may be on the Turkish territory,” the National Front Party member said.

As for plans to include Turkey into the European Union, Monot stressed that the Turkish state “currently has nothing to do in the EU.”

Turkey has been actively engaged in the Syrian war since the outset, and has repeatedly denied that it is aiding IS. The claims have come from the Russian military, the Syrian authorities, the Kurds and other sources.

An RT Documentary crew has visited towns in northern Syria recently liberated from IS militants. There, the journalists obtained invoices detailing the large-scale illegal oil trade carried out by the terrorists, as well Islamist propaganda brochures printed in Turkey.

They interviewed an IS fighter, detained by the Kurds, who said that the group is selling oil to Turkey.

The RT crew also filmed passports of the deceased or escaped jihadists, many of which contained stamps issued at Turkish border checkpoints.


Related:
ISIS, oil & Turkey: What RT found in Syrian town liberated from jihadists by Kurds (EXCLUSIVE)
EXCLUSIVE: Turkey ‘protects & supplies’ Al-Nusra camps at its border – Syria’s YPG to RT

[Hervé]

ISIS attacked Brussels? The US created ISIS? Therefore?

by Jon Rappoport Mar23, 2016

I want to acknowledge two researchers and reporters, whose work cuts deeply into the ISIS mirage: Tony Cartalucci and Brandon Turbeville. In a half-sane world, Cartalucci would be the international editor of the New York Times, if the Times were a real news outlet.

If we accept the premise that ISIS attacked Brussels, then the next question is: what is ISIS?

Who is behind it? Who supplies it? Who funds it? Who sustains it?

Brandon Turbeville, writing at Activist Post (“Congress Votes To Fight ISIS By Funding ISIS To Fight Assad”, 9/19/2014), states:

“Obama’s plan [is] to ‘detect and degrade’ ISIS…the reality is that the plan is nothing more than a plan to…destroy the Syrian government to the benefit of ISIS and other fundamentalist groups that the United States has created, funded, trained, and directed since the very beginning of the Syrian crisis.”

Cartalucci, in an article titled, “In Syria, There No Moderates” (9/2013), writes:

“…there were never, nor are there any ‘moderates’ operating in Syria. The West has intentionally armed and funded Al Qaeda and other sectarian extremists since as early as 2007 in preparation for an engineered sectarian bloodbath serving US-Saudi-Israeli interests. This latest bid to portray the terrorists operating along and within Syria’s borders as ‘divided’ along extremists/moderate lines is a ploy to justify the continued flow of Western cash and arms into Syria to perpetuate the conflict, as well as create conditions along Syria’s borders with which Western partners, Israel, Jordan, and Turkey, can justify direct military intervention [in Syria].”

Turbeville writes:

“Indeed, even the New York Times has been forced to admit that there are, as Cartalucci expertly argues in his article, no moderates in the ranks of the Syrian death squads. As Ben Hubbard [NY Times] wrote in April, 2013 (“Islamist Rebels Create Dilemma on Syria Policy”), ‘In Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, rebels aligned with Al Qaeda control the power plant, run the bakeries and head a court that applies Islamic law. Elsewhere, they have seized government oil fields, put employees back to work and now profit from the crude they produce…Across Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government…Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.‘” (emphasis added)

In other words, the “moderate Syrian rebels” are a fiction no one could fail to notice. The US funding has always gone to ISIS.

I could cite much more from Cartalucci and Turbeville, who effectively argue that ISIS is a created tool of the US government and its allies. I strongly recommend you read and study their work.

As far as the Brussels attacks are concerned, if we assume that ISIS was responsible, the whole scenario is turned upside down after analyzing the basis of ISIS.

The Obama administration (jointly with the Bush administration) should be announcing: “Well, we keep ISIS alive. Unfortunately, things happen. One of those things is Brussels.”

And then you could go on to query the sincerity of the word “unfortunately.”

Articles by Tony Cartalucci:

Brussels Attack: The True Implications of ISIS Links (3/22/2016)
ISIS: US-Saudi Plague Reaches Indonesia? (1/16/2016)
America’s Fake War on ISIS Grinds On (3/22/2016)
Turkey: The Islamic State’s Second Home (1/18/2016)

Jon Rappoport

[Calz]

I would be on board everything there ... except anyone can claim anything.

Who is taking "responsibility" and why???

Was that a CIA issued statement??? Heaven forbid.

Can't have that.


Anyway ... as I have stated elsewhere ... until proven otherwise all major "terrorist" attacks are state sponsored.


Prove me wrong ...

[Hervé]

Caught On Tape: US State Dept. Says Maybe Russia, Syrian Army Shouldn't Take Palmyra From ISIS

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/25/2016 11:46 -0400

Last May, the world was horrified to learn that the band of marauding, black-flag waving, sword-wielding jihadist desert bandits we all know as the CIA-spawn called ISIS had overrun the ancient city of Palmyra. A UNESCO world heritage site, the city is known for its picturesque ancient ruins and boasts a rich cultural history that brings together Greek, Roman and Persian influences.

The fear - well besides the worry that the militants might murder all the men and enslave the women and children - was that ISIS would destroy the city’s architectural treasures. Those fears were realized in October when reports indicated that the group had blown up the Triumphal Archs, a 2,000 year-old monument that dates back to the Roman empire. Here's a drone flyover of the destruction:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_a08qbFYGnE

And a before/after contrast

("Allahu akbar?")

“It’s a crime in every sense of the word,” Syria’s chief of antiquities said. “All we can do is share the sadness.”

Yes, “a crime in every sense of the word,” but destroying the Arch wasn’t the only “crime” ISIS committed at the city’s vaunted ruins. The militants also put on a rather horrific (if morbidly epic) display in The Roman Theatre where city residents were forced to watch as two dozen teenage ISIS trainees carried out a mass execution of captured SAA soldiers.

Right. So that's all really, really bad which is why you would think everyone would be happy to learn that the Syrian army - with the help of Russian commandos and Moscow's warplanes - have now entered the city and are on the verge of liberating it from the ISIS scourge. One Russian SpecOps soldier was reportedly killed in the fighting. "The soldier died heroically, calling the strike onto himself after he was discovered and surrounded by terrorists," Interfax said.

"Syrian government forces fought their way into Palmyra on Thursday as the army backed by Russian air cover sought to recapture the historic city from Islamic State (IS) insurgents," Reuters reports. "The state-run news channel Ikhbariya broadcast images from just outside Palmyra on Thursday and said government fighters had taken over a hotel district in the west [while] the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army had advanced into the hotel district just to the southwest of the city and reached the start of a residential area, after a rapid advance the day before brought the army and its allies right up to its outskirts."

So, after nine months in ISIS hands, the Russians, Hezbollah, and the SAA are about to liberate a UNESCO world heritage site from the most brutal jihadist organization the world has ever known. Unequivocally good, right?

Not necessarily, according to the US State Dept. Watch below as spokesman Mark Toner tries to explain to reporters why it may be better if ISIS holds onto its territory. "You know I mean look... broadly speaking .... you know... it's not a great choice... an either/or... but... you know..."

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uxs7yog_CjM

No, Mark, we don't "know."

[Hervé]

BOMBSHELL: French Counter-Terror Boss: ‘I Have Proof Who Killed Litvinenko - It Wasn’t Russia’

Ricky Twisdale

He says it was done by US and UK secret services and that he is going to go public with the evidence

Paul Barril

A former French official who has had senior roles in internal security and terror fighting has come forward with a remarkable statement: that he has documentary evidence proving that Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian spy who died from plutonium poisoning, was killed by US and UK special services.

In a lengthy interview which is soon to be published, he goes further, saying that Litvinenko’s murder was a special sevices operation designed to defame Russia and Vladimir Putin, that the notorious Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was involved, and was himself killed by MI6 when he became a liability. He even says he knows the code name of the operation: “Beluga”.

From Oped News, Monday, March 27:

Operation Beluga: A US-UK Plot to Discredit Putin and Destabilize the Russian Federation
Renowned French security expert Paul Barril has let loose a bombshell: the existence of Operation Beluga, a covert Western intelligence scheme intended to undermine Russia and its leaders.

Is that what's behind much of the threatening rhetoric now going back and forth between the US and Russia?

Barril exposed Operation Beluga in a recent interview with Swiss businessman Pascal Najadi on the 2006 Alexander Litvinenko death case. Litvinenko was a reputed former spy who many believe was murdered with radioactive polonium on orders of Vladimir Putin.

Najadi says the interview drew out the converse revelation that Litvinenko was actually killed by "an Italian who administered the deadly polonium 210." What's more, he astonishingly says, the operation was carried out under the auspices of the US and UK.

In my books The Phony Litvinenko Murder and Litvinenko Murder Case Solved I've written about an Italian connection. But I can't confirm that Barril is talking about the same person.

Barril’s allegations should be taken seriously. He is a renowned French intelligence figure who is known in France as “Superflic”, which translates roughly as “Supercop.” In the French public eye he is a kind of combination of Eliot Ness, James Bond, and William Bratton. For many years he was the second in command of the ski-mask wearing GIGN, the legendary elite French special forces unit, who top the “badass” rankings of special forces anywhere, and had other high ranking internal security positions in the French government.

Since leaving government service he has handled security issues as a private contractor for heads of state in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. He has been at the center of several controversies over the years, and is a well-known author. There is no question that he has access to intelligence at the state level which would give him insights into this affair.

The French GIGN is one of the most feared and lethal special forces units in the world

In the interview, Barril alleges that Berezovsky was working closely with MI6 and the CIA to discredit Russia and Putin, and that large sums from these agencies were passing through Berezovsky’s hands to be paid to individuals to cooperate in these efforts. Barril says Litvinenko was one of Berezovsky’s bag men, who passed funds on to others.

Barril has been in the big leagues of state security for 4 decades

From the interview:

“Russia has nothing to do with (the murder of Litvinenko). The case was fabricated from the beginning. Polonium was chosen as the poison because due to its production in Russia it would implicate Russia. The objective of the whole operation was to discredit president Putin and the FSB. It was done because Russia is blocking US interests around the world, especially in Syria. It was an attempt to weaken Putin’s hold on power, to destabilize Russia.”

In the interview, Barril mentions the outspoken Putin foe, financier William Browder, as being in close cooperation with Berezovsky in the discreditation efforts. He also says he is sure Berezovsky was murdered by his secret service handlers after they realized he was behaving erratically and had to be silenced so that he wouldn’t give them away.

Barril has advised heads of state in the middle east, the gulf states in particular

Finally, he says he will make his evidence available to a public investigation of the affair if it is run by a credible individual. He suggests Carla del Ponte as a good choice to do it, because he is convinced she is not under the control of the CIA.

Barril’s allegations are sure to raise further questions around the 2006 Litvinenko murder, which hit the headlines again in January, 2016, when a UK public inquiry into the affair failed to deliver a conclusive verdict.

The case is 10 years old, but still elicits widespread public interest due the spy-thriller ingredients of the murder mystery: spy - counterspy hijinks, radiation poisonings, accusations (which have been conclusively debunked) that Putin himself ‘probably’ ordered the murder, seedy nightclubs, a disgraced oligarch who ends up mysteriously dead in his bathroom, sobbing widows on the stand, preposterous politicized "show" trials, politicians grandstanding, and much more.

An accomplished murder mystery author would have trouble coming up with something this surreal.

------------------------------------------

Finally, he says he will make his evidence available to a public investigation of the affair if it is run by a credible individual. He suggests Carla del Ponte as a good choice to do it, because he is convinced she is not under the control of the CIA.

... implying there aren't that many who aren't - or susceptible to be - CIA assets...

[Ewan]

Didn't he just paint a target in the middle of his forehead? Maybe there's much unsaid, like he has the documents with various people to be released in the event of his death.

[norman]

Perhaps he's so privvi to the inside story that he's one of very few people who know that all it will take, now, is a little push.

[Hervé]

In Syria, Assad Liberates Palmyra While CIA Battles the Pentagon

By Daniel McAdams Monday March 28, 2016

The big news out of Syria over the past couple of days has been that Syrian government forces with the help of the Russian military have taken back control of Palmyra from ISIS. The fall of Palmyra and subsequent destruction of the spectacular Roman ruins there by ISIS horrified the civilized world.

The US government had claimed from the beginning that the Russians were not targeting ISIS at all, but only the "moderate" rebels supported by Washington. That lie now stands bare in newly-liberated Palmyra and onward, as Syrian government troops aided by the Russians speed east toward the "capital" of the Islamic State, Raqqa.

Meanwhile, the five year US "regime change" effort in Syria chugs along in a very different way. We learned in a Los Angeles Times report yesterday that the US is now at war with...itself in Syria.

Yes, that's right. While Syrian government troops and the Russians are dealing a death-blow to ISIS in Syria, one set of rebels supported by the Central Intelligence Agency is at war with another set of rebels supported by the Pentagon!

Apparently for the past several months CIA-backed Fursan al Haq and Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have intensified their war against each other. According to the Times piece, US Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) -- a staunch interventionist -- finds the situation "an enormous challenge," adding that "it is part of the three-dimensional chess that is the Syrian battlefield.”

Schiff here epitomizes the total cluelessness of the Washington political class. It is not a challenging situation nor is it three-dimensional chess to those capable of non-Washington thinking. It is a matter of US policy being to wage war against both the Assad government and Assad's main enemy, ISIS. When you fight an enemy and the enemy of that enemy at the same time it is not called three-dimensional chess. It is called madness.

If Euripides is correct that "whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad," it seems we are half-way to destruction in the US.

Related:
CIA-armed militias are shooting at Pentagon-armed ones in Syria

[Hervé]

Pentagon concedes Russia’s ‘constructive role’ in Syrian ceasefire, fight against ISIS

Published time: 29 Mar, 2016 23:37
Edited time: 30 Mar, 2016 11:01
Get short URL

© Jason Reed / Reuters

Russia is playing a “constructive” role in Syria's ceasefire, the Pentagon said, having noted “developments” on the ground. It encouraged Moscow to “continue to focus” on Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), while persuading Assad to stop the war.
TrendsRussian anti-terror op in Syria, Syria unrest

“It is clear that they have focused more of their military attention on ISIL, we think that’s a good thing,” Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook said during a briefing in Washington DC. “They said initially that was their primary goal, was to go after ISIL in Syria and they are doing so now.”

Cook added that the US sees “those developments” on the ground, but also hopes that the ceasefire in Syria would “ultimately lead to a resolution of the Syrian Civil War.”

In this regard, Cook stressed that peace in Syria depends on Bashar Assad and the changes that he as the President is required to make.

Since the Syrian conflict unfolded five years ago, the US has been insisting that Assad has to step down as a part of a peaceful resolution to the military conflict, which has given way to a jihadist insurgency.

“We're also pushing for the cessation of hostilities that we hope will ultimately lead to a resolution of the Syrian Civil War, but to have that happen will require changes on the part of the Assad regime, and nobody has more leverage, more clout – if you will, than Russia,” Cook said. “We hope that they [Russia] would use that leverage in as constructive fashion as possible, and we would encourage them to do so.”

He went on to say that if the Russians “continue to focus their efforts” on Islamic State, this “would be a good thing.”

Cook’s comments have marked a significant shift in the Obama administration’s tone towards Russia’s actions in Syria.

Last week, the Secretary of State, who traveled to Moscow last week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, also pointed out Russia’s help in the “strategic interest” of the United States.

“Russia is now helping with the cessation of hostilities. And if Russia can help us to actually affect this political transition, that is all to the strategic interest of the United States of America,” Kerry told the CBS show Face the Nation.

Since Russia started its anti-terror campaign over Syria to assist the Syrian army in September 2015, the US has been accusing Moscow of aiming its actions on anti-Assad rebels and targeting civilians, while providing no substantial evidence.

Yet, assisted by Russian air power, the Syrian troops have been making steady progress in retaking grounds from IS. Last week, the Syrian Army achieved one of its major victories after liberating the historic city of Palmyra, or Tadmur. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it had been occupied by jihadists since last May. Until its capture, the city housed some of the world’s best-preserved monuments of antiquity, which had been partially destroyed, including two of Palmyra’s 2,000-year-old temples.

The Syrian Army has also managed to force terrorists out of Latakia and the northern part of Aleppo, the country’s biggest city and commercial hub in pre-war times, and mopped up Hama and Homs Provinces in central Syria.

Related:
US State Dept fails to say if ISIS must be pushed out of Palmyra or not

-------------------------------------

Hmmmm... would the Pentagon be on the brink of realizing the "intelligence" they are being fed with is "over-cooked"?

In this post (<---), see: From Sue Arrigo's Case 12: The Exorbitant Cost of Cooking Intelligence