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Obama To Allow "Moderate" Syrian Rebels Call In B-1B Bombers For Air Support
While Obama desperately tries to stick to his now crushed "Nobel peace prize winner" image, by not succumbing to an all-out land war in the one nation where his progressive "pacifism" brought him fame (and according to some, the presidency), namely Iraq, the rest of militant, "interventionist" US foreign policy is rapidly starting to resemble that waged by the most brutally rabid, neo-con Republican leader. Case in point an absolute stunner reported minutes ago by the WSJ, according to which the White House has decided to provide pickup trucks equipped with mounted machine guns and radios for calling in U.S. airstrikes to some moderate Syrian rebels aided by American B-1B bombers!
According to the WSJ, the planes would drop 500- and 2,000-pound guided bombs, a typical load for the B-1s that have operated in Afghanistan as well as Syria. Using the B-1’s sniper pod, which allows the aircrew to precisely target moving objects, the crew could target tanks, motorcycles and other moving vehicles.
Finally all that near-record lobby spending by Boeing, maker of the B-1B Lancer will come in handy.
Do note: only moderate Syrian rebels will be given control over US military equipment, certainly not the more extreme Syrian rebels such as the Al Nusra front, various Al Qaeda splinter cells and of course, the various ISIS progenitor groups which the US is "fighting" this very moment!
That's just one part of it: as part of America's creation of its next well-equipped, well-armed, well-trained and very lethal adversary in 2-4 years time, when the "moderate" Syrian rebels are found to have been quite "extreme", the U.S. will also start training rebels, pardon - moderate rebels - who are "waging a two-front fight against the extremists and Syrian regime forces."
The projected timeline of the brilliant US plan:
The first training sessions are to last between six and eight weeks. The training will focus on helping the rebel forces hold territory and counter Islamic State fighters—not to take on the Syrian army.
After that the U.S. will consider introducing what it is calling “the new Syrian force” onto the battlefield in Syria, officials said.
A team of four to six rebels will each be given a Toyota Hi-Lux pickup, outfitted with a machine gun, communications gear and Global Positioning System trackers enabling them to call in airstrikes. The fighters will also be given mortars, but the administration hasn’t decided to provide the teams with more sophisticated antitank weapons.
Of course, the battle to give Qatar free passage of its natural gas pipeline across Syria is not new (recall: "Mystery Sponsor Of Weapons And Money To Syrian Mercenary "Rebels" Revealed"): "the Central Intelligence Agency began a covert program to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels in 2013, providing ammunition, small arms and antitank weapons to small groups of trusted fighters. While that program continues, it is widely viewed as having fallen well short of its aims."
This time will be different, however, because "the new military program is supposed to train a larger number of fighters and, with the addition of air support, officials say they hope it will have a more dramatic impact on the battlefield."
The real question, however, is dramatic impact against whom? The real answer: not ISIS, which is just a strawman to finally topple Qatar's, pardon, America's real enemy in the region, Syria's Assad.
And therein lies the rub, because this entire operation has nothing to do with suppressing an ISIS which has seemingly specialized in making Hollywood quality straight to YouTube decapitation videos, and everything to do with finally crushing al Assad's regime, something the US started in 2013 with the infamous YouTube clip of chemical weapons which nearly turned into an all out war before Russia intervened and halted what could well have been a global war.
Sure enough: "The administration also has been grappling with legal and policy issues—including the highly charged question of whether to confront Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ’s forces if they engage the American-trained rebels."
And the problem, as Zero Hedge readers knows very well, is that a green light by Obama allowing the "moderate" rebels to fight Assad's soldiers and regime, is just a matter of time. At which point the only pending question is how will Russia respond, because then Putin will have no choice but to defend his strategic natgas territorial interest using military means. Which is when the previously noted proposal of retaliating on US-ally Saudi Arabia becomes a very distinct possibility.
Which is where the latest Obama plan runs into difficulties: how to continue pretending that the "war" is against ISIS when in reality it is all about Assad:
U.S. officials don’t know whether American planes will be able to provide air support if the moderate forces it trains get in a fight not with Islamic State, but with forces loyal to the Syrian president.
Because the U.S. isn’t at war with Syria, U.S. military lawyers are wrestling with the question of whether American warplanes would have legal authorization to strike Mr. Assad’s forces, even to support a U.S.-trained rebel force.
Aside from the legal issues, officials also said that, as a policy question, the White House hasn't given a green light to supporting the rebels if they get into a battle with the Syrian military.
One thing is certain: with the help of his new warhawks, neo-confriends, Obama will quickly transform what is supposedly a war on ISIS (which recall in August started as an isolated humanitarian intervention that would promptly end) into its true essence: an undeclared war on the Syrian regime.
Some Republican lawmakers, including Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), have been critical of what they see as a U.S. campaign in Syria that is too narrow to succeed. "How can we train up a Free Syrian Army or send any other force into Syria if we don’t first deal with the Assad air threat,” Mr. Graham said at a confirmation hearing this month for incoming Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
Some countries believe it should expand to take on the Assad regime. Others believe it would be a mistake to dilute the focus, and say attacking the Assad forces could quickly help Islamic State grow stronger.
Officials said that expanding the war to the Assad forces could fracture the international coalition gathered to fight Islamic State.
Which means in the coming weeks and months look forward to a surge in false flag "attacks" blamed on the Assad regime, aiming to give Obama validation to expand the "War against ISIS" to include Syria's regime as well.
What this would do, is create a whole new coalition, one backed by Russia and various other non-Western alligned nations, which will support the Syrian president in what will ultimately be a replica of the near-global war outcome from the summer of 2013.
And while the whole thing is so stupid that it would be hilarious if it wasn't tragic, the biggest non-sequitor in the entire plan is also the most basic question: just how will the US discern which of the Syrian "rebels" are moderate, which we assume means will only fight against US enemies, as opposed to extremist, such as all those Syrian "rebels" the US armed in 2013 only for them to be subsequently revealed as al Qaeda and ISIS predecessors.
Actually, it is neither hilarious nor tragic. Conveniently, none other than Andy Borowitz provided the blueprint by which the US government should proceed when sorting out the "moderates" from the merely homicidally Jidahist, decapitation-happy elements:
From the Borowitz Report:
Welcome to the United States’ Moderate Syrian Rebel Vetting Process. To see if you qualify for $500 million in American weapons [ZH: and US taxpayer-funded air support], please choose an answer to the following questions:
As a Syrian rebel, I think the word or phrase that best describes me is:
A) Moderate
B) Very moderate
C) Crazy moderate
D) Other
I became a Syrian rebel because I believe in:
A) Truth
B) Justice
C) The American Way
D) Creating an Islamic caliphate
If I were given a highly lethal automatic weapon by the United States, I would:
A) Only kill exactly the people that the United States wanted me to kill
B) Try to kill the right people, with the caveat that I have never used an automatic weapon before
C) Kill people only after submitting them to a rigorous vetting process
D) Immediately let the weapon fall into the wrong hands
I have previously received weapons from:
A) Al Qaeda
B) The Taliban
C) North Korea
D) I did not receive weapons from any of them because after they vetted me I was deemed way too moderate
I consider ISIS:
A) An existential threat to Iraq
B) An existential threat to Syria
C) An existential threat to Iraq and Syria
D) The people who will pick up my American weapon after I drop it and run away
Complete the following sentence. “American weapons are…”
A) Always a good thing to randomly add to any international hot spot
B) Exactly what this raging civil war has been missing for the past three years
C) Best when used moderately
D) Super easy to resell online
Thank you for completing the Moderate Syrian Rebel Application Form. We will process your application in the next one to two business days. Please indicate a current mailing address where you would like your weapons to be sent. If there is no one to sign for them we will leave them outside the front door.
»
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Where "moderate Syrian rebels" = mossad dressed as moderate Syrian rebels.
According to Obama, ISIS is a moderate Syrian rebel group. Does this mean they will be able to call in air support against the US Army's 3rd Infantry Brigade?
02.15 13:00 ET BREAKING NEWS: Obama Goes Full Metal Bush – Deploys 3rd Inf. Brigade to Kuwait for Combat against ISISPut it on your next gun purchase application, guys: Moderate Syrian Rebel.
It's getting really difficult to keep track of the extremist muslim terrorists and the moderate muslim rebels and the peaceful muslim victims.
It's going to get a little easier when McCain and Al Baghdadi announce that ISIS has joined Assad in the battle against the Free Syrian Army...
The number is 1-800-AIR-SUPPORT.
there should at least be a captcha question to weed out the extreme spam bots......
Just when I think our foreign policy cannot get more absurd, we now have this 'Alice in Wonderland' moment when you realize that it is ALL BS.
You have to be stuck on stupid to believe any of this is anything other than naked use of brutal force by criminals disguised as soft head liberal R2P (responsibility to plunder).
the White House has decided to provide pickup trucks equipped with mounted machine guns and radios for calling in U.S. airstrikes
Then its confirmed: US is supplying arms to BOTH sides. This is an incredible joke. No wonder the internet makes goverining difficult, as effective governing in their eyes means bald-faced LIES.
So Obama is gving ISIS it's own air support...
Its a Libyan thang, they're making a YouTube video for posterity ;-)
B1 Bob is alive and well --http://realchange.org/dornan.htm
Wowza, a two thousand pound bomb to take out a motorcycle et al?
B1 jockeys need sortie hours also.
US Foreign Policy is very clear: IMPERIALISM. It's not obscure, it's in your face.
Putin will announce soon that Russia plans to support moderate regimes in the ME in their fight against extremist-separatists who do not respect the territorial integrity of Syria with lethal weapons such as S-400 and S-500 (when available)
I do not have the words to describe how insanely idiotic all this sounds. If this doesn't signify that we have officially gone full retard, I don't know what will.
Jesus Titty-Fucking Christ! What a mythical level clusterfuck!
Jesus Titty-Fucking Christ! What a mythical level clusterfuck!
Let me guess---your first post needed a happy little friend...
Well, titties normally travel in pairs! :>D
Yup. Every time I think I've seen the dumbest thing ever from the WH, I'm unpleasently surprised.
Imagine the wonderful things that the new Republican Administratin in 2017 will bring! Democrats are right, the Republicans are worse.
If there was ever an era for a "None of the Above" option on the ballot, this is the time.
My literal words were "Oh my fucking god."
"I remember that cheating bastard that sold me those diseased sheep 23 years ago and I know the grid coordinates where he lives. Time for some B1 retaliation." -- Omar the Tent Maker's Nephew.
Please not, bombing is an US option. The can call all they want, but the US will choose when and where to bomb.
How long are they really going to rely on this? Not very.
Please not, bombing is an US option. The can call all they want, but the US will choose when and where to bomb.
How long are they really going to rely on this? Not very.
They're trying to determine if it's legal to attack Syrian forces if they are attacking "moderate rebels"? Am I understanding that correctly?
If so, these people are absolutely insane.
Yes, these people are absolutely insane.
> 1-800-AIR-SUPPORT
"Please press one to confirm you are a moderate fighter. Thank you. Now please enter the GPS coordinates you would like your air support delivered to. Thank you. Your order has been confirmed, package is under way."
If US ruling oligarchy have any brain they must recognize that the Obama administration and the Congress represent a very serious threat to the USA and its national interests.
The Obama administration and the Congress started wars that will eventually go out of control with a consequent regime change here in America.
"the White House has decided to provide pickup trucks equipped with mounted machine guns"
Call 1-800-plumber.
And away goes problems down the drain.
We plumbered some folks
ISIS is the same Al Queda group we are arming in Syria.
US foreign policy is an epic failure and has been since WWII
The US created both.
... and use both sets of mercenaries in the objective of Syrian overthrow, whatever means necessary, the horror, the horror, the horror.
Unbridled Imperialism facilitated by a fooled citizenry who just suck up the propaganda and hate whomever they are told to hate, without reasoning, purposeful media conditioning.
Lots of recent black ops in close succession in coalition countries who required justification for their US support, along with the US puppet regimes Egypt and Jordan carrying out bombing runs. Remember that list of 7 countries in 5 years? After Syria, there's only Iran left.
I'm kind of a dollars and cents guy...the only thing that really offends me, is spending a billion dollars to blow up a toyota pickup with a couple of dudes in the back shooting an AK.
Then don't dare read the fine print or your head will explode.
"Using the B-1’s sniper pod, which allows the aircrew to precisely target moving objects, the crew could target tanks, motorcycles and other moving vehicles."
Maybe unicycles too.
I wonder what kind of truck we'll be sending over there?? Dodge trucks are ram-tuff! Ford F-350 with a lift kit?
Somali "technicals," eat yer heart(s) out! (but NOT literally!) :>D
Can the small business Main Street types export AR's to just the friendly rebels??
It’s time to make some money.
So we are now using 500 to 2,000 pound laser precision guided bombs to take out motorcycles?
Its the only way to be sure.
Barry....2,000 lbs bomb on a motorcycle
Clinton tomahawk a tent
Those Dems are learning
JohnG FTMFWin! Don Pardo, tell him what he's won... ROTFLMAO!
No Zero, only ENEMY motorcycles.
You know, the one's who run around with towels on their heads yelling Allen's Snack Bar.
Apparently Allen's Snack Bar is great...
Mopeds are motorcycles?
If it's a dud at least it will crush-em!
Got Radio?
...This is B1-B back to base...Confirm target 1300 Penn. Ave? Roger that...Inbound.
Moderates burn captives alive, the ones they do not behead.
Extremists are the ones that speak out against the tyranny of the US gov.
and he cant find all the ISIS guys in Libya beheading Christians in public
ISIS the fastest growing start-up on the planet. Wall Street cant wait for an IPO.
whom do they Bank with? BCCI or HSBC? Inquiring minds want to know.........Im sure its a rothschild bank
Goldman Sachs
"We're all children of Abraham,now Allah Akbar"
I mean, if they were extreme, then no way. Those moderate ones are all great guys and gals tho.
Extreme? Let me tell you about my neighbor college kids who refuse to put away their cans after garbage day.
iSIS
or Saudi Arabia? hell he was hugging the head goat fucker several months ago
I've long postulated the smoke of Satan which fills the lungs of the western leaders would find a way to start world war 3, and a US airstrike on the syrian arab army ( overwhelmingly secular sunni muslim ) will do it.
We're going to see planes falling from the skies, mark my words. Also likely ships going down too. They have the pincers closing in Ukraine and here.
You a Muslim?
I'm proud to be an American - American Soldier Tribute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZf619DIpoHenry Kissinger
I'm starting to think ol' Henry vastly overestimated the IQ of military men.
What happens when they call in support to bomb Friendly forces, who do you blame ?
Canada, most likely.
South Park did an episode on blaming flappy-headed Canadiens for everything. It was inspiring.
Duh, Bush.
Blows the mind. We have seen the photo's of western mercs training these people and reports of Israel giving medical care to their wounded. But for these air strikes there must be advisors imbeded within active units. Even 5 years ago you would have laughed if I posted some of these stories as predictions.
Now here we go: I feel empathy for the Syrians. But then I have not forgotten what has been done to the people of Iraq, Libya and many others. HOWEVER, I lost my man crush on Putin long ago. This is EXACTLY the type of thing the blind Putin lovers have posted would NEVER be allowed to occur. Putin's red line (well, his latest after all others crossed already), Putin would sink ships first, Putin would shoot down bombers, Syria is so important that Putin would approach WW3 over this, Iran would never let Syria fall and Putin AND China has Iran's back and would enter a hot war over this.
SO, here it is. Is this not, yet again, put up or shut up for the Putin Will Act crowd? Syria is going to be finally overrun, Christans and Shia's murdered or finally driven out. The Putin crowd will say this is a great win for Putin! Putin is playing chess! Putin will never let them take Iran! (Forget the others taken.)
It is not the Putin lovers fault. We all want to believe in the Lone Ranger, but Putin is not it. It is time to question Putin's motives, his strength both internally in Russia and internationally, his resolve and game plan. And most importantly who does he serve, it doesn't look to be the Russian people but their elite. Is he a true rebel or just a different mafia association in competion with outside jmafia associations. (Remember his pardoning rich jew criminals.)
Has Putin even supplied the modern anti aircraft missile systems he promised and then cancelled? NO, and this is why not.
Shouldn't you wait to see if the Obamatron is foolish enough to follow through on this? LOL, yeah, I kill myself sometimes! :>D
I've got a theory that Mohammad himself was actually a stinking filthy mossad agent.
There goes Assad. Here comes Putin.
He is giving it(syria) to ISIS
Interesting. I am sure russia will do the same for Assad.
"winning"
What a load Oblahblah is, turn in your Peace Prize, you bomb people to hell all over the globe, hypocrite!
That is so illegal. The land of the free is bombing sovereign countries without UN approval while raising Cain about Russian involvement in Ukraine. Maybe, Assad has been buying yellow cake from Niger. Colin Powell has all the details.
ISIS: The jihadist movement stamped “Made in America”http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/07/30/isis-j30.html
You should BTFD until the NWO runs out of mid easterners to kill.
Then head for the hills
All run through the Tel Aviv switchboard.
Bum's Away.
His fight all along was to turn Syria over to ISIS.
Are we already in the Matrix? Morpheus, get me out of the power plant.
The MITWH, Barack Obama, is just doing the bidding of his Iranian Chief of Staff, Valerie Jarrett. They are helping their sect of Islam take control in the ME utilizing American military assets.
So Amerika is now providing air support for ISIS and of course Amerika is okay with that because they would never say no just in case thier cable got cut off and they had to think for themselves.
you can't make this shit up
Yes, B1 Bombers for the Bortherhood
You know what they should do? They should paint those B1 bombers with the traditional Rothschild logo. You know, the six-pointed star. That one.
Air support for AL-CIA-da. What a messed up world we live in.
What could possibly go wrong...
Cannot think of any comment that clears this haze. Rotate and add to stocks. Brew more beer
If only there were a few "moderates" in the DC area....oh wait
It's like arming 'moderate' Crips to fight against your enemy of choice Bloods because they said Obamas momma so fat, her belt size is 'equator'.
"pickup trucks equipped with mounted machine guns"
Why this reminds me something?
Oh wait, the ISIS has plenty of these!
Does this mean it is OK for American Citizens to join and fight with the Syrian Rebels........?
you can always go to Russian embassy and ask
No! That cannot be allowed as they cannot have those people then leaking what is really happening within ISIS. Only controlled people or those who can be put into a fringe, isolated group are allowed.
Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket...
Drop a 2,000 lb bomb on that f-ing Vespa, yeah, that'll show 'em...
It would be a comedy if the deaths weren't so real.
Like the drone operator we read about, these pilots will stop bombing after about 1,626 kills… +/-.
'Them' to spare.
And Obama is going to outfit the terrorists with some awesome and rugged turbo-diesel Toyota HiLux pickups made in Japan instead of American vehicles. Turbo-diesels which are totally banned in the USA because, "They cause global warming", despite the fact they get almost 40 mpg.
Did the EPA and UAW even know about this? If this works for ISIS then the Mexican Drug Cartels are gonna demand the same thing.
Why is it that a certain country never got hacked by the equation group, or even attacked by ISIS/ISIl (when it would be the most logical thing expected). Keep it up. The USAF Cyber Command will turn america into a shit hole really fast, from insider trading to aiding and abetting the real enemy. It wasn't just the NSA doing shit.
Splitters!
I guess this is the US Oligarchy (and Mini Me), raging against the dying of the light.
please let this be the event at which the 'Save America 1st' crew steps in and removes this rogue - please please please do it now before this psycho torches off ww3
If you like getting B-One'd, you can keep getting B-One'd.
Gotta get your kickbacks somehow.
Wait a minute. Aren’t the replacement bombs stuck out in the Pacific Ocean because of a certain union?
You mean, there is actually something good to come from the West Coast dock strike? Woot.
Its groundhog day, every day in America, and most of the time, I feel like Phil Connors.
Good thing Russia has no way to hit a B1 bomber.
Can you picture Obama explaining how ISIS (or who ever he will try to blame) could do such a thing.
or....maybe they really do want a nuclear war with Russia...seems crazy to me but I'm just a guy who enjoys breathing.
Can you spell S300?
US is coordinating with Syria in the airstrikes against ISIS,
while US is secretly supporting ISIS against Syria.
The Old Roth-schild plan of financing and arming both sides in every war
that kills anyone except the Jew World Order Banksters.
The US has been flying air-support for ISIS for a year now, herding them where they want them to go via "strategic air strikes". Now they're in the right places it seems only logical to give them the means to call in air strikes.
Although, if you believe that the "militants" that have been given these powers are locals I have a bridge in New York to sell you. They're the same mercs that make up ISIS in the first place.
Obama has decided to basically give command and control of the US airforce to a shadowy ill-defined foreign jihadist militia operating in a nation that the united states is legally at peace with?
Doesn't this sort of activity constitute a dereliction of duty or aiding an enemy or war crime?
Isn't his completely contrary to US Law -as well as International Law?
How does command authorization for the use of bone-fide US Airforce planes and personnel to commit air strikes devolve to un-named persons acting as non-government/terrorist aggressor organizations?
How can Congress even consider allowing let alone condoning this? Isn't this clearly and unambiguously an impeachable offense?
WHO would have imagined that there was yet another level of retardedness beyond Full Retard?
Shadowy and ill defined they are, foreign they are not.
ISIS = Israel Secret Intelligence Service.
ISIS = Islamic State in Syria
Mossad & CIA pretending to be ISIS Islamic State.
Thank God the B-1Bs are coming!
I hope they won't be shot down like the B-52s were in 'nam by the commy sams!
Hang about, MANPADS are really much better than sams and only $50K a peice, carried by any camel jockey, with the support of a minor power or mini-oligarch.
Oops war has changed hasn't it? Discount weapons to take down expensive kit.
Get real! Peace only.
P.S. Ok you'd need BUK to reach this altitude, but who's to say ISIL have not already 'acquired' these beauties?
Wait, do they call it in like a pizza order? Can they Grubhub an airstrike?
There's an app for that.
The Milo Minderbinder school of international conflict. Everyone gets a share.
+1 for Milo Mindbender. Perfect comment on situation. Its a win-win. If they hit the target, great. If them call in a freindly fire airstrike that is a win too. Obomber cannot lose. let me repeat - "NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND". Surreal.
What could go wrong here?
All it takes is one of them to get shot down by a Russian made missile system and we have ourselves a war. Sounds like a plan!
They could never admit it. There was engine failure etc ...
Free Report:
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Sick bastards.
Feminism can burn in Hell !
Now we see what Obongo was up to with this intervention in Syria and why Israel has been so comfortable bombing Syrian government troops and infrastructure. They want Assad OUT, so Israel can have its way. What a despicable government is in power in the USSA.
GOP Congresscritters Flocking To Jewish gathering
ISIS was FUNDED and ARMED by the USA, due to the fact that the Jewish Lobby ALWAYS gets what it wants. These American supported THUGS committed CANNIBALISM in Syria, this is what McCain and Jonah Kohn aka John Kerry supported.
The media, and I include most of the alternative media, did NOT examine the MOVERS & SHAKERS for the Iraq war, here is the real story on Iraq.
"The war on Iraq: Conceived in Israel," February 2003
War on Iraq: Not oil but Israel October 22, 2004
A closer look: The Israeli origins of Bush II's war.April 24, 2005
"Yes, dis is Ali, how are you today? I got your number from Yousef, I need 500lbs of HE dropped on the following coordinates..."
What-Could-Possibly-Go-Wrong?
It would take an American such as a Ranger or some other Special Ops person on the ground with a laser to coordinate a B-1 bomber airstrike, along with permission from a central air command somewhere. Its not quite like dropping bombs in the WW2 movies.
Well, that's pretty telling, isn't it. Maybe that's how we think we'll be able to tell the "moderates" from the "extremists" from the plain ol' Assad Bad Guys. The "Moderates" are the ones wearing the Tan Berets.
As if we EVER have a clue who's who. A good number of the GITMO detainees were turned in by neighbors to settle old feuds or to collect bounties. Now you'll have Syrians calling in B! strikes to take out the neighboring village over some decades old feud over stolen goats.
But then the goal isnever-ending war so... why sweat the details.
at first blush the new strategy articulated
by the commander in chief appears flawed.
after consideration, it appears so wrong
that even the crazy people in d.c. must object.
but then, it occurred to me, that it is
just a psychological play, an empty threat as
no real president in our "civilized" world would
actually prosecute such an blatantly illegal and belligerent
policy in violation of international law.
.
it would be like giving street thugs permission
to call in nuclear strikes from the subs.
and how about that, give the rebels the use of the
nuclear arsenal, why not? or the mercenaries.
sell it all to the highest bidder. go team ussa,
sell it all, that is what the constitution says, right?
.
how long before the white house grants isis use of the
nuclear arsenal?
Hopefully they will not call in an airstrike on a US Embassy.
The U.S. Council on Foreign Relations is calling the shots.
Obama is merely the puppet sitting in the White House, taking selfies, and playing golf.
Know your true Master.
UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE! Obama is the Dumbest, most Inept president in American History. Barr none.
With a 50% approval rating...
Where is Arron Burr when we need him?? Milestones
If these were real muslim rebels, they'd be giving the US airstrike coordinates for the middle of Tel Aviv. Israel/US saying all the muzzies want to kill them, they are trying to suck and blow at the same time.
OK, does anybody now doubt that the whole point of this is to turn the whole of South Asia (and Northern Africa, and Ukraine) into a gigantic, dog-shit-filled flaming dumpster fire around Russia, China and the E.U., sequestering all that energy where US global force projection can dictate where it goes to and on what terms?
Because you can't follow the thread of logic in what they've said over the years about this all. You just can't. I've tried. If one thing is true, then the rest are lies. Which leads to the conclusion that they're all lies, and the truth and true purpose is something altogether different. They've said so many things that contradict each other, there aren't many possibilities left. It's getting easier to see the strategy, the more absurd the explanations used to obscure it.
You might be a moderate Islamic radical if.....
1. You smoke cigs
2. You like porn
3. You hate Assad and promise to always use your shiny new B1B for good, not evil.
4. You have the intelligence to fool the retarded morons in the Pantygon into believing you are moderate.
Am I the only one who sees the Obama plan here? Fire the competent military leaders, spread our military all over the globe in some indecipherable cluster-fuck foreign policy that has the entire world hating the US, waste our military resources and weaponry on useless targets and ventures, spend trillions on ever-increasing social-safety-net-gone-wild horseshit, allow criminals and the poor to swarm in over the borders, create division in the populace by pitting groups against each other and fomenting racial divide, etc etc et fucking cetera. The US is being set up, people. When Obama, or whoever is pulling his strings, decides the time is right, either Obama surrenders the US to another leader or he just flies away from it all as the bombs explode around us and we are pulverized. No one will help us, no one will pity us, no one is coming to the rescue. This is Obama's plan and he's determined to make the US pay for all the harm that Obama believes the US has done to the rest of the world. This is it, folks, this is the plan. RIP USA.
This is fine. I want to see how the B1s survive in an environment that has good anti air. Coming soon to Syria.
Broken server. Fix please.
Here is the full WSJ article for those ZHers who cannot get beyond the pay-to-read firewall.
Presented under fair use for non-commercial informational purpose, of course.
U.S. to Give Some Syria Rebels Ability to Call Airstrikes
After training, moderate rebels to get pickups with gear to call for American B-1B bombers
Wall Street Journal
By Julian E. Barnes And
Adam Entous
Feb. 17, 2015 4:20 p.m. ET
49 COMMENTS
WASHINGTON—The U.S. has decided to provide pickup trucks equipped with mounted machine guns and radios for calling in U.S. airstrikes to some moderate Syrian rebels, seeking to replicate the success Kurdish forces, aided by American B-1B bombers, had over Islamic State last month.
The plan comes as the U.S. prepares to start training moderate rebels, who are waging a two-front fight against the extremists and Syrian regime forces. Defense officials said American trainers will be in place March 1 in Jordan, with a second site due to open soon after in Turkey.
The Obama administration has been facing growing pressure to step up support for the moderate Syrian rebels from Republican hawks in Congress and from some allies.
The first training sessions are to last between six and eight weeks. The training will focus on helping the rebel forces hold territory and counter Islamic State fighters—not to take on the Syrian army.
After that the U.S. will consider introducing what it is calling “the new Syrian force” onto the battlefield in Syria, officials said.
A team of four to six rebels will each be given a Toyota Hi-Lux pickup, outfitted with a machine gun, communications gear and Global Positioning System trackers enabling them to call in airstrikes. The fighters will also be given mortars, but the administration hasn’t decided to provide the teams with more sophisticated antitank weapons.
The Central Intelligence Agency began a covert program to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels in 2013, providing ammunition, small arms and antitank weapons to small groups of trusted fighters. While that program continues, it is widely viewed as having fallen well short of its aims.
The new military program is supposed to train a larger number of fighters and, with the addition of air support, officials say they hope it will have a more dramatic impact on the battlefield.
The administration also has been grappling with legal and policy issues—including the highly charged question of whether to confront Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ’s forces if they engage the American-trained rebels.
The U.S. has begun screening some rebels who will join the program. While the U.S. hopes to train 3,000 fighters by the end of the year, officials wouldn’t say how many fighters have been selected so far.
The U.S. hopes to step up the training next year, to approximately 5,000. But officials say the moderate forces will never outnumber Islamic State extremists or regime forces. Reflecting that, the Pentagon believes the moderate forces must have superior training as well as support from U.S. warplanes.
In the Syrian city of Kobani, near the Turkish border, Kurdish forces called in targets for American B-1 bombers, helping them wrest control from Islamic State forces in late January.
Drawing on that experience, the U.S. believes its aircraft can have a devastating effect on Islamic State forces elsewhere if it works with another partner force on the ground.
“The way we envision it, it would be very similar to Kobani,” said a senior military official.
But U.S. officials don’t know whether American planes will be able to provide air support if the moderate forces it trains get in a fight not with Islamic State, but with forces loyal to the Syrian president.
Because the U.S. isn’t at war with Syria, U.S. military lawyers are wrestling with the question of whether American warplanes would have legal authorization to strike Mr. Assad’s forces, even to support a U.S.-trained rebel force.
Aside from the legal issues, officials also said that, as a policy question, the White House hasn't given a green light to supporting the rebels if they get into a battle with the Syrian military.
Some Republican lawmakers, including Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), have been critical of what they see as a U.S. campaign in Syria that is too narrow to succeed.
“How can we train up a Free Syrian Army or send any other force into Syria if we don’t first deal with the Assad air threat,” Mr. Graham said at a confirmation hearing this month for incoming Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
Officials said that expanding the war to the Assad forces could fracture the international coalition gathered to fight Islamic State.
Some countries believe it should expand to take on the Assad regime. Others believe it would be a mistake to dilute the focus, and say attacking the Assad forces could quickly help Islamic State grow stronger.
Some in the military believe the U.S. needs to wait until Islamic State fighters are weakened further before it considers airstrikes against Syrian forces.
More important, U.S. officials have said if the U.S. begins attacking Assad’s forces, the uneasy peace between Iran and the U.S. in Iraq will break down and Iranian-backed militias could begin targeting U.S. forces there.
Iranian leaders have told supporters in Iraq not to attack U.S. bases, but that detente could dissolve if the war in Syria expanded to take on Mr. Assad.
“Because we have a common enemy, a common goal, everybody is moving in the same direction,” said the senior military official. “You cross a redline in Syria, you start to infringe on what Iran sees as its long-term interest and those Shia militias could turn in the other direction.”
Military officials said their ability to control the rebels will be limited once they are on the battlefield. However, the senior official said the U.S. will have some leverage, including ammunition resupply, stipends paid to the fighters and support from airstrikes. “All those things could be put at risk if they go counter to what we have asked them to do,” the official said.
The U.S.-trained rebels most likely will be calling in strikes on Islamic State fighters, rather than on fixed targets, military officials said.
The planes would drop 500- and 2,000-pound guided bombs, a typical load for the B-1s that have operated in Afghanistan as well as Syria.
Using the B-1’s sniper pod, which allows the aircrew to precisely target moving objects, the crew could target tanks, motorcycles and other moving vehicles.
Air Force pilots who have recently returned from the battle over Kobani said that communication with Kurdish fighters was decisive in targeting airstrikes.
Kurdish fighters were initially skeptical of what the U.S. strikes could do, said Lt. Col. Ed Sumangil, commander of the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron that flew missions over Kobani until earlier this month. But after hitting targets called in by the Kurds, the advance of Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, was quickly halted, and, in the ensuing months, rolled back.
“We were getting information from the Kurds from? our command and control element,” said Lt. Col. Sumangil. “We were getting information quickly enough for the purposes of what we were trying to achieve: target ISIL fighters and their positions.”
Write to Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com and Adam Entous at adam.entous@wsj.com
This is absolutely the warm up to an attack on Assad and Syria in general, and that is an attack on Iran, and all of its allies and proxies. We are indeed headed back to Sept 2013 and the pending closure of the Strait of Hormuz, to force the US navy out of the Persian Gulf.
After this little proposal I would not trust a damned thing Washington claims about Syria, as they are clearly lining up to attack Assad, and they are also lining up everyone else in the 'alliance' for the unexpected 'bonus' of an attack on Iran soon after, or in parallel.
If you do one, you will get the other, by default.
By proposing this Washington has also just shot dead, at point-blank range any possibility of the Iranians settling an agreement on nuclear matters. That's also now rendered instantly out of the question as well.
All apparently deliberate, conscious vandalizing, by Obama.
So now Iraq will now also turn against the US, and also against anyone who was thus roped into the anti-ISIL fight, as the 'sweetener' and pretext for a war against Assad and against Iran.
Pure naked treachery.
"Obama To Allow "Moderate" Syrian Rebels Call In B-1B Bombers For Air Support"
Would this be moderate today and pray their still moderate next week?
Obola has surely lost whatever sanity he had left.
Can someone remind me why Assad is soo EVIL?
He wouldn't allow a natural gas pipeline to be built through his country to feed Europe.
Obama is for some pipelines and against others. It depends on who will profit. Hurt Warren Buffet, NO WAY! Hurt Russia, HELL YEA!
If this is a serious policy (which I doubt), how long will it be before one is called right into a trap and shot down?
What if the "Moderates” find extreme Syrian rebels in the CONUS?
“Pull ‘Em!”
Yancey, you may well be right with your observation.
I simply cannot put anything beyond the stupidity of our "leaders". Hell man, I would not reject the possibility that this might be the purpose all along.
After all, a shot-down B-1 Bomber could easily serve as a dramatic "Remember the Maine" false flag that can be used as a cassus belli. The sheep would truly believe that shooting down a hostile US death machine that is committing an act of war by raining down fire and destruction inside a sovereign foreign country constitutes an "entirely unjustified attack on the United States".
I have no illusions about this; the vast majority of Americans (US type) really are that stupid and arrogant.
However, I share your doubts that the US would ever delegate tactical control of US Air Force bombers and their vast ability to destroy on a bunch of "moderate" (lmao!) rebels riding around in a Hi-Lux pickup truck, "allies" or not. That is an absolute non-starter. The only people who would ever be calling in US airstrikes would be US spec-ops teams, JTACs, or similar personnel.
I have the nagging suspicion that this might just be the tired old "All options are on the table" bluster from our discredited leaders. Unfortunately, over the past 20 years or so, the United States has fallen into the ridiculous belief that diplomacy has to be backed by the credible and immediate use of force (economic, military, political) at the first sign of resistance to any of our many hare-brained "diplomatic initiatives".
Not the shooting down of the plane, its the burning alive of the American pilots. I'm sure its already in the script.
With the cameras strategically placed and ready to record, even in vast, empty desert areas.
this is fiction it must be, per other thread: this is a jobs program for jihadi's..any sof in country watch out for incoming friendly fire..on other had dee ass the AO.
Just a few items
The B-1B was built by Rockwell
How will it survive in a Sam environment , very well if it looks real they would be escorted by Growlers and Weasels. It's own onboard ECM is very capable
One last thing no way on the world would Air Force commanders allow half assed rag heads call in strikes as terminal controllers.
If this story is accurate JTACS or Combat Air Controllers would have to be imbedded.
That to me is the most worrisome aspect of the latest folly of this administration and the scumbag neocons.
+1
Well put, I agree completely.