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US, Turkey To Form Anti-ISIS "Coalition" With Saudi Arabia, Qatar
Some observers have noticed something rather peculiar about Turkey’s new bombing campaign against Islamic State positions.
The curious thing about the airstrikes on ISIS targets, Ankara’s critics say, is that they aren’t really occurring. Instead, Turkey is aggressively hitting PKK targets and although Turkey made it clear in its appeal for NATO support that it doesn’t discriminate between one "terrorist" group and another, commentators say the air raids have been noticeably one-sided. "Opponents [of] President Tayyip Erdogan [have] pointed out the air strikes against the PKK have so far been heavier than those against the Islamist radicals," Reuters notes.
As we’ve detailed exhaustively (here and here for instance), this is no coincidence. Rather, Erdogan has effectively engineered a renewed conflict with the PKK in order to weaken support for the pro-Kurdish HDP, an upstart political rival which won a stunning victory at the ballot box in June. With the country facing snap elections after attempts to form a coalition government unsurprisingly stalled, Erdogan is banking on voters abandoning their support for the Kurdish cause in the face of the escalating violence.
Presumably feeling the pressure from heightened media scrutiny around the politically-motivated anti-PKK air campaign, Turkey is out with an explanation for why it looks like the Turkish military is more interested in eradicating the PKK than they are fighting ISIS. Put simply, Ankara is just waiting on everyone to show up at Incirlik. Here’s Reuters with more:
NATO-member Turkey formally agreed to open its air bases to U.S. and coalition aircraft last month, a major policy change after years of reluctance in taking a frontline role against the Islamist fighters pressing on its borders.
Ankara and Washington have been working on plans to provide air cover for a group of U.S.-trained Syrian rebels and jointly sweep Islamic State from a strip of territory stretching about 80 km (50 miles) along the Turkish frontier.
"As part of our agreement with the U.S. we have made progress regarding the opening up of our bases, particularly Incirlik," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT, referring to a major air base near the southern city of Adana.
"We're seeing that manned and unmanned American planes are arriving and soon we will launch a comprehensive battle against Islamic State all together," he said during a trip to Malaysia.
Turkey is meanwhile distrustful of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which has proved a useful U.S. ally in fighting Islamic State, and which controls adjacent territory. Ankara wants the Kurdish guerrillas to advance no further than the Euphrates river, on the eastern fringe of the planned "safe zone".
Turkey launched several air strikes against Islamic State fighters in northern Syria just under two weeks ago after one of its soldiers was killed in cross-border fire. It also carried out near-simultaneous attacks on camps belonging to the PKK Kurdish militant group in northern Iraq.
Opponents have accused President Tayyip Erdogan of using the war against Islamic State as a cover for preventing Kurdish gains, pointing out the air strikes against the PKK have so far been heavier than those against the Islamist radicals.
Turkish officials deny the campaign against Islamic State is a cover, saying the offensive is a joint operation with the coalition and will only begin in earnest when Washington and its allies are ready.
"There are other countries within the coalition ... interested in joining such as Britain and France, while among the countries in the region, there is a possibility that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan will take part," Cavusoglu said.
In other words, it’s not that Turkey only cares about bombing PKK positions, it’s that when it comes to ISIS, Ankara is just waiting on the calvary which, you’ll note, may now include none other than Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar. Bloomberg has a bit more color:
The U.S. has begun deploying manned and unmanned aircraft at Incirlik Air Base, which will soon play a prominent role in the fight against Islamic State, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.
Turkey will also open other bases for operations against the jihadist group, Cavusoglu told state-run TRT television during a visit to Malaysia. The U.K., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan may also act against the militants from Turkey, he said.
"Incirlik will soon play an effective role in the fight against Daesh," Cavusoglu said, using another name for Islamic State. "We will together start a comprehensive fight against Daesh very soon."
Yes, a "comprehensive fight against Daesh," carried out by a coalition that just happens to be made up of the US, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Put another way, in the name of eradicating ISIS, the US, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Qatar are about to invade Syria, an outcome which was of course inevitable from the start.
One country that’s not buying the cover story is Syria itself. "We said we support any effort to combat Daesh in coordination and consultation with the Syrian government, otherwise it will be a breach of Syrian sovereignty," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Wednesday. Yes, it certainly will be a "breach of Syrian sovereignty," and unless Moscow is serious about sending in the paratroopers, there won’t be much Bashar al-Assad can do about it, especially given the state of his now thoroughly depleted army.
For anyone who requires further clarification as to why this particular set of "allies" is so interested in banning together to mount a "comrehensive fight against Daesh," consider the following map. Proposed coalition partners are highlighted in red. Note that they all have one thing in common.
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Pack a load of bullshit and finding a donkey cart to load it on is as snappy as a Turkish taffy...
Oh sweet fucking irony.
Didn't the bongo say he trained ISIL guys?
This whole thing is a big pile of manure.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/05/28/us-military-pilots-complain-hands-tied-in-frustrating-fight-against-isis/
That will be extremely heavy wrist slapping for isis...
ISIS is the antithesis to your thesis. What are good guys without bad guys? Batman needs the Joker and vice versa.
Sure, lets ally with those who finance it (don't forget Israel...)
'They' are behind every damn horse in this race! They are supporting the Kurds (who will end up with Kurdistan, eventually), the Turks, and IS!
From Turkey's perspective, I would imagine its a case of "Keep your friends closer and..."
by Thierry MeyssanStory how France, Turkey, Great Britain and USA created ISIS and how it failed
http://www.voltairenet.org/article188337.html
The very same who supported them all along.
It's about as conflicting of interest as putting the DEA in charge of drug legalisation.
Doing the worst thing, in the worst way possible is official policy, at least if Obutthead had a policy of any kind......
We've always been at war with...well lets just call a spade a spade.
banksters have always been at war with anyone not part of the tribe.
The fact remains, however, that the US, the major European powers, and their regional allies all previously lent financial, military and political support to ISIS and similar groups, which have “Made in the USA” stamped all over them. They have, until now, played a significant part in Washington’s efforts to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, as part of a broader effort to gain control of the region’s vast energy resources and transit routes.
The Western powers, flush with success after organising an Islamist insurgency in Benghazi in order to justify NATO’s overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, thought they could use similar forces to overthrow Assad in Syria, whose regime draws its main base of support from the Alawite sect, a Shi’a offshoot, and Sunni businessmen.
For three years, the US, along with the Gulf states and Turkey, poured billions into “opposition” groups, supposedly to unnamed “moderates,” but in reality to Al Qaeda-linked Sunni groups such as al-Nusra and ISIS to spearhead a sectarian war. The US, Turkey and Jordan have operated a base in Jordan where US instructors trained dozens of ISIS members. In an article last year, the New York Times confirmed that the CIA assisted Arab governments and Turkey by airlifting weaponry to these groups in Jordan and Turkey. The Guardian reported last March that British and French instructors were also involved.
Other ISIS members were trained near Incirlik Air Base near Adana, Turkey, where US forces are based. After completing their training, they went to Syria and later Iraq
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/07/30/isis-j30.html
Made in Zion. Forged in Langley and Glilot Junction.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
Super smart people with socialogy PhDs will tell you that there is a certain percentage of the population (every culture, color, creed) who will run around, kill and injure people, and take their stuff, so that they can afford to run around, kill and injure p people, to take their stuff, to run around ...
please pay your taxes folks. if we spend several MOAR trillion dollars and 20 more years, hundreds of thousands of lives, we might get a stable region on the complete opposite side of the world.
Good stuff.
Covered well in Ch. 10 of "Road to Serfdom."
http://m.friendfeed-media.com/07672588579eff7a2ec87e0ea053be31c7db0757
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
Listen to Webster Tarpley talk about Erodgan and General Allen.
http://tarpley.net/
Webster was first out of the gate with this one. Who is calling the shots in Washington these days?
Ding, ding - sure sounds like the start of major escalation. The big question is how Russia will respond, it most definitely doesn't want this pipeline to happen.
Sounds like Putin read the Turks the riot act saying "this will be your Stalingrad " There may be truth to the rumor that Russian airborne troops will be deployed to prop up Syria. The SAS and perhaps others are already there. If Putin is smart enough to choose his battles, did he choose to fight in Syria? The next choice of battlefields will be in the Caucuses.
Love your graphics, WB!
Blood-red Line. Astonishing how so many in this world have no respect for human lives, particularly the lives of those who want nothing to do with geopolitics. Yet, they pay the ulimate price at the hands of War Pigs.
So all the cuntries that made ISIS are now doing what again???
I believe the term is 'wagging the dog'
Hmm, I may be a dummy but I thought the leader of ISIS could be found in one of 3 places
1-Pentagon
2-White House
3-Golf Course
4-Rolex watch boutiques.
5-Toyota Executive Fleet Management showrooms
It is quite clear to anyone with half a brain tha ISIS is being supported by Turkey and elements of USA forces.
So America is claiming they are fighting ISIS but in FACT are using ISIS to get at Assad .
This is pure evil but lots of people are so warped now they don't even recognize evil.
What about Cecil?
Rita Katz told me it was Assad who shot him. Because he hates 'Murka!
pods
Notice that Israel cowards are not fighting ISIS, Why is that? Oh, thats right , they only kill innocent women and children fighting to keep from having their land stolen,
The ZioNazis that control the USA will have Americans do the fighting for Israel, the chosenites.
And the stupid American Sheeple will willingly do it.
time to test out the effectiveness of S400
Exactly...this is toy time for all. Why build toys if you can't use them. If it weren't for the toys, most economies would have collapsed already...which they should have.
Would it be so hard for Russia and the U.S./Qatar alliance to get together and agree a pipeline deal that is agreeable to everyone? You know, just to save millions of liives....!
Because that would require the psychopathic oil 'kings' and NATO to stop being well... Psychopaths.
Not gonna happen baby!
billions if we can get rid of clean safe nuclear power plants and waste storage faclities that are crumbling.
Radioactivity is a hell of a thing on every non-manmade element we try to contain it with.
Note the "Nabucco" pipeline in the map. That was our baby under the Bush II regime. We wanted that pipeline to cut out Russian gas from Europe. Now that Azerbaijan is mad at us, Nabucco is off so we are backing this Syria war / invasion / coalition / FUBAR in order to complete another project to cut Russian gas out of Europe.
No pipeline deal is agreeable to USA if it involves Russia - even as a partner.
Anything but get the hell out of that quagmire.
The M.I.C. needs to expend munitions, our kids deliver it for them.
Amurika!
So Israel doesn't want any part in this? Funny how they are never even mentioned. Must be their low-profile, humanitarian posture that prevents them from stepping up. Admirable self control.
They're ghost writing the whole story. Hey Turkey guess what. The 'Murikans aren't ever going to leave and when the time comes they'll bomb you too.
Thinking that should say Anti-Assad/Kurd coalition.
Definitely anti-Assad. The Kurds are Israel's stooge so maybe they get a free ride (apart from Turkey)
I don't believe any of it.
If Israel was vapourized overnight, you would see ISIS disappear quite quickly
I rather doubt that.
As a thought experiment, suppose Israel threw in the towel and every Israeli citizen were to emigrate to Europe or the USA. Would this solve the "Mid-East Crisis" or would they simply be fighting one another for possession of the former Israeli territory?
In the absence of Israel, would Sunnis and Shiites get together to settle their religious differences? Would the oil rich nations cede their economic dominance in favor of a peaceful union with their poorer arab brothers? Would Turks settle their differences with the Kurds? Would Iran and the Gulf States agree to arms reduction and sign a peace treaty, and would all the nations of the region get together to form a mutually beneficial economic union, with freedom of movement and a common currency?
Now remove US and European influence from the region then ask the same questions.
Not that foreign powers haven't played their part, but they could only have done so if the various middle eastern cultures, including Israel, weren't already obsessed and ultimately defeated by their own shibboleths.
If Israel was vaporized overnight it would be full on tin foil suit and diving helmet time on ZH... in between huzzahs.
Why the hell is SA doing massive deals with Russia? Have they have agreed to disagree on ISIS?
Saudi Arabia in an anti ISIS coaliton? Now that is high humor!
Where does ISIS money and arms support come from? Saudi Arabia and the Turkey/Jordan/USA coalition.
I urge people to read what some Iraqi parliament members have said as far back as a year ago. Their Iraqi army had direct evidence of US and UK planes air dropping vital supplies to ISIS, Turkey held open vital arms and ammunition supply lines to ISIS across the Syria / Turkey border.
What ISIS is, is a vital part of US foreign policy. It fills a function as excuse to intervene where and when the US wants to, like Syria. ISIS also provides a power force to attack Assad's Syrian Army. ISIS also works in Northern Iraq to kill Kurds for Turkey. So ISIS is both enemy and friend, just depending the circumstance and place.
Mind you, nobody but a State department liar would dare claim ISIS came to massive power in a few months across three nations without direct NATO, US, Turkish, Jordan and Saudi support. It is both the devil the US throws onto CNN tv screens, the the vital ally on the ground attacking Assad, and countering Iranian influence in Iraq.
One Iraqi parliamentarian described it perfectly. "The USA is not so much trying to fight ISIS, as to direct ISIS into areas that benefit US interests." He is right of course, Syria is the perfect example, using ISIS as an excuse, the USA now bombs Syrian terrirtory at will, a declaration of war, by any standard.
Exactly. Saudis fighting ISIS - what a joke. They bombed the rebels in Yemen who were anti-ISIS. They supported the Wahhabis who expanded from Saudi Arabia to cause trouble in Pakistan and Afghanistan. ISIS is more than just a USA State Department tool - it is a Saudi tool as well.
This "coalition" is just very thin window dressing to hide an invasion of Syria and get rid of Assad once and for all. If we think Syrians have been suffering up to now, they ain't seen nothin' yet.
Alternative headline: Countries that created ISIS form "anti-ISIS coalition"
//B. THE SALAFIST [sic], THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, AND AQI ARE THE MAJOR FORCES DRIVING THE INSURGENCY IN SYRIA.
C. THE WEST, GULF COUNTRIES, AND TURKEY SUPPORT THE OPPOSITION;
8.C. IF THE SITUATION UNRAVELS THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS TO THE OPPOSITION WANT, IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE SYRIAN REGIME, WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE STRATEGIC DEPTH OF THE SHIA EXPANSION (IRAQ AND IRAN)//
http://levantreport.com/2015/05/19/2012-defense-intelligence-agency-docu...
US/CIA operations to transport weapons "liberated"
by deposing/murdering Gaddafi from Benghazi through
Turkey then to Syria/ISIS to depose Assad are so
totally documented as to be beyond question....
Does anyone seriously even consider believing
that the positions of the protagonists in this war
have changed in the slightest
Who's on First?
I concur. This is a Setup to invade SYR and IRQ - possibly LEB to secure the KSA/QAT Pipelines.
Any reason IRN couldn't build a Pipeline to TRK? Bad Geography/Geology?
Come to think of it, why couldn't KSA/SYR come to a compromise where both parties (IRN and KSA) would build pipelines through SYR? Double the jobs created in SYR, plenty of CNG/Petrol to Europe, etc.
KSA and the USA "Had" to use this situation to overthrow Mr. Assad...
When I was at the VA Med Ctr the other day, we had the TV changed to CNN (to avoid Povich), which covered the ISIL SITREP of the Day. Once quasi Clergy Type (who didn't have an appt, I gathered. Mormon?), started a conversation regarding the Syrian Conflict aired on the screen.
Somehow, near the end, "You know that Russia is behind this" had to be brought up by this Guy.
Clueless, Baseless, and Idiotic. The Moronification of 'Murica.