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Propaganda War Begins: Russia's Syria Strikes Targeted US-Backed "Moderate" Rebels, West Says

Tyler Durden's picture




 

With the US having officially lost control of the narrative in Syria now that The Kremlin has called Washington’s bluff on the battle to eradicate ISIS and eliminate the Sunni extremist elements that threaten to wrest control of Syria from President Bashar al-Assad, the only remaining question after Russian lawmakers officially cleared the way for airstrikes was how long it would be before the Western media began shouting about Russian warplanes bombing targets that aren’t affiliated with ISIS.

As we reported earlier today, Moscow wasted no time in launching its first round of air raids.

In turn, the West wasted no time in contending that Russia is targeting areas that aren’t known to be strategically significant for ISIS. Here’s a look at two headlines which do a nice job of summarizing all of the rhetoric which you’re about to hear emanating ceaselessly from every corner of the Western world in the coming days and weeks:

  • U.S. IS CONCERNED RUSSIA'S INTENT IS PROTECTING ASSAD: KERRY
  • U.S. HAS 'GRAVE CONCERNS' IF RUSSIA STRIKES OUTSIDE ISIL AREAS

And here’s WSJ with a sneak peek at the new narrative which Washington will be working hard to refine:

Russian President Vladimir Putin inserted his country directly into Syria’s war Wednesday, as Russian forces launched their first airstrikes against what Moscow said were Islamic State targets in the Middle Eastern nation.

 

But Western leaders raised doubts about whether Russia really intended to take the fight to Islamic State, or merely broaden the Syrian regime’s offensive against a wide range of other opponents.

 

For the U.S., the Russian strikes add new questions about the role of Russian forces in Syria. “While we would welcome a constructive role by Russia in this effort, today’s [meeting in Baghdad] hardly seems indicative of that sort of role and will in no way alter our operations,” a U.S. official said.

 

Warplanes targeted Islamic State military hardware and weapons stores, a spokesman for Russia’s Ministry of Defense told official news agencies hours after Russian lawmakers approved a request by Mr. Putin to allow the use of force abroad.

 

Framing the attacks as part of a fight against terrorism, Mr. Putin said that Russia will support the Syrian army from the air, without any ground operations, for the duration of the Syrian offensive.

 

“The only real way to fight international terrorism…is to act pre-emptively. and not wait till they [terrorists] come to our home,” Mr. Putin said in televised comments. He called for antiterror cooperation with other states through the Russian coordination center in Baghdad.

 

The official Syrian Arab News Agency reported Wednesday that Russian airstrikes hit areas under Islamic State control in Homs and Hama provinces, including the cities of Al Rastan and Talbiseh, near the town of Salamiyah, and the villages of al-Za’faran, al-Humr Hills, Eidoun, Salamiyah and Deir Fol. The strikes had successfully targeted Islamic State, SANA said, without elaborating.

 

But with the exception of the area east of the town of Salamiyah in Hama province, none of the areas listed by the Syrian regime have a known presence of Islamic State fighters. They are largely dominated by relatively moderate rebel factions and Islamist groups like Ahrar al-Sham and the al Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front.

Yes, “relatively moderate rebel factions like al-Qaeda" (check the above, WSJ actually said that) which in July kidnapped the commander and deputy commander of the Pentagon’s ragtag group of US-trained rebels that was supposed to number in the thousands by now but has been reduced to just “four or five” men and which was humiliated last Friday when the remaining fighters were forced to surrender their pickup trucks and ammo to al-Nusra in order to “secure safe passage” to who knows where.

Considering that, and considering the "solid" relationship the US has always maintained with al-Qaeda, it sure would be a shame if a few al-Nusra operatives wound up as collateral damage in Russia’s air campaign. 

Then there's The Telegraph with an epic attempt to spin the news with a single headline: "Putin defies West as Russia bomb 'Syrian rebel targets instead of Isil'".

Meanwhile, France - who recently went full-propaganda by using “self defense” to justify its newly launched Syrian bombing campaign - is out expressing its consternation about which groups Russia is bombing. Via Reuters:

France said it was "curious" that Russian air strikes in Syria on Wednesday had not targeted Islamic State militants and a diplomatic source added that Moscow's action appeared aimed at supporting President Bashar al-Assad against other opposition groups in the country's civil war.

 

The diplomatic source said it was in line with Russia's stance since 2012 that until there was a viable alternative to Assad, Moscow would not drop its support for him in the war that began in 2011 after a government crackdown on anti-Assad protests.

 

"Russian forces struck Syria and curiously didn't hit Islamic State," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told lawmakers.

 

A French diplomatic source said the strikes, which seemed to have been carried out near Homs, an area crucial to Assad's control of western Syria. 

 

"It is not Daesh (Islamic State) that they are targeting, but probably opposition groups, which confirms that they are more in support of Bashar's regime than in fighting Daesh," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

"We shall see what they do with their other strikes," the source said.

And then Germany (which, much to Moscow's chagrin, recently announced it’s set to receive a shipment of new US nukes) jumped on the bandwagon. Via Bloomberg:

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Russia needs to explain its aims in carrying out airstrikes in Syria. 

 

“In this highly charged situation in Syria there’s a big risk that there will be further misunderstandings between the partners, all of whom are needed to calm the situation”

 

“I hope that this isn’t slamming shut all the doors that were laboriously opened in recent days, including in talks between President Obama and President Putin”

 

“Only coordinated action can lead to a solution. Military action along won’t help us overcome the Syrian crisis. We have to get into a political process. We need the neighbors, Russia, the U.S., and we in Europe can be helpful, too."

There are two things to note here. First, there isn't anything "curious" about this and Vladimir Putin has made no secret of his intent to keep the Assad regime from falling. Indeed, it's not clear what else Putin could do besides invite Charlie Rose for a two hour interview and explain three separate times that Moscow intends to support Assad. Second, Germany's suggestion that Russia is "slamming shut all the doors to cooperation" is ridiculous to the point of absurdity. As the events that have unfolded over the past several weeks have made abundantly clear, it is the West that has slammed the door shut on Russia when it comes to cooperating to fight ISIS and the reason for Washington's trepidation stems directly from i) wanting to oust Assad at all costs even if it means allowing the extremists operating in Syria to remain active until the regime falls, and ii) the fact that no matter what line The White House trots out to the public, the US views the Russia-Iran "nexus" as far more dangerous to America's geopolitical ambitions than ISIS and therefore, allying with Washington's two fiercest foreign policy critics simply isn't an option even if such an alliance would swiftly eradicate Islamic State. 

And of course the narrative wouldn't be complete without some on-the-ground Skype "intelligence". Here's Reuters:

Russian air strikes in northwest Syria which Moscow said targeted Islamic State fighters hit a rebel group supported by Western opponents of President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, wounding eight, the group's commander said.

 

He said the fighters were hit in the countryside of Hama province, where the group has a headquarters.

 

"The northern countryside of Hama has no presence of ISIS at all and is under the control of the Free Syrian Army," Major Jamil al-Saleh, who defected from the Syrian army in 2012, told Reuters via Skype.

 

Saleh said his group had been supplied with advanced anti-tank missiles by foreign powers opposed to Assad.

The Homs area is crucial to President Bashar al-Assad's control of western Syria. Insurgent control of that area would bisect the Assad-held west, separating Damascus from the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, where Russia operates a naval facility.

 

"In the early morning this aircraft conducted air strikes in Latamneh city. One targeted a civilian area, and the other targeted al-Izza," Saleh said, referring to his group which he said were set up around two years ago and has 1,500 fighters.

 

He declined to give further details on the exact location of the strike but said the bombs hit a cave which the group used as a headquarters and was near the front line with the regime in northern Hama countryside.

 

"Each strike had 8-10 missiles and there were two strikes so there is no way it was an accident," he added.

No, it probably was not an accident, but what the Western powers want you to believe is that because they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge what's going on even when it is patiently explained to them by The Kremlin, then anything that happens is thereby a mystery. 

The bottom line going forward is that the US and its regional and European allies are going to have to decide whether they want to be on the right side of history here or not, and as we've been careful to explain, no one is arguing that Bashar al-Assad is the most benevolent leader in the history of statecraft but it has now gotten to the point where Western media outlets are describing al-Qaeda as "moderate" in a last ditch effort to explain away Washington's unwillingness to join Russia in stabilizing Syria. This is a foreign policy mistake of epic proportions on the part of the US and the sooner the West concedes that and moves to correct it by admitting that none of the groups the CIA, the Pentagon, and Washington's Mid-East allies have trained and supported represent a viable alternative to the Assad regime, the sooner Syria will cease to be the chessboard du jour for a global proxy war that's left hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead.

 

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Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:40 | 6611883 nope-1004
nope-1004's picture

So Russia is stabilizing the region, taking out ISIS, and the US is mad?  lmao  The US has a serious choice to make here:  Either admit they are the real terrorist and fight Russia or concede.

 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:42 | 6611920 New England Patriot
New England Patriot's picture

Good morning, Vietnam!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:45 | 6611922 Looney
Looney's picture

Putin should send a golf club to 0bama as a gift with ‘keep quiet while others are playing” engraved on it.  ;-)

Looney

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:46 | 6611939 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

"U.S. IS CONCERNED RUSSIA'S INTENT IS PROTECTING ASSAD: KERRY"

I thought that's exactly what Putin said he was going to do.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:47 | 6611948 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

“The only real way to fight international terrorism…is to act pre-emptively. and not wait till they [terrorists] come to our home,” Mr. Putin said

wow, sounds like bush.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:53 | 6611958 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

Russia's Syria Strikes Targeted US-Backed "Moderate" Rebels, West Says ..."

Brought to you by the "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." people.

Remember, there are moderate rebels and there are also moderate cannibals.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:23 | 6612480 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

>Russia's Syria Strikes Targeted US-Backed "Moderate" Rebels, West Says

How many of them did the West say were actually left? In the last article I read, the count was down to 5.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:13 | 6612728 monk27
monk27's picture

They must have been holed up in that little green dot in the middle of the map. That's a very bad location to avoid Russian bombs...

Thu, 10/01/2015 - 22:10 | 6619037 Ace006
Ace006's picture

Four plus one admin officer.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:31 | 6612519 Dinero D. Profit
Dinero D. Profit's picture

These two cannibals were having a clown for lunch, and one turns to the other and says, "Does this taste funny to you?"

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 20:04 | 6613701 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

LOL!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 22:40 | 6614254 toxic8
toxic8's picture

Is it me, or does this whole thing seem eerily reminiscent of something out of the Ribbentrop-Molotov playbook?

Thu, 10/01/2015 - 22:10 | 6619041 Ace006
Ace006's picture

More like the day before WWI.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:19 | 6612144 JohninMK
JohninMK's picture

I don't remember a similar howl of angst in the press when NATO member Turkey started bombing the West's friends, the Kurds, instead of ISIS.

No hypocrisy here then.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:30 | 6612514 schadenfreude
schadenfreude's picture

That was exactly my first thought. The hypocrisy of the involved parties is obvious. Quid pro quo from Russian side.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:28 | 6612813 HenryHall
HenryHall's picture

The Russians have been missile striking (not bombing) the people who have been selling weapons to ISIS.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:18 | 6612149 Commander Cody
Commander Cody's picture

Methinks Vlad is talking about the USA.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:00 | 6612380 V in PA
V in PA's picture

Who is down voting this. This sounds excatly like the propoganda we are being fed here in the USA.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:24 | 6612476 Bananamerican
Bananamerican's picture

Russia is trolling america when they say "we have to fight them THERE so we don't have to fight them HERE"

how is the u.s. gonna call "bullshit" when we invented that bullshit line?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:12 | 6612720 markovchainey
markovchainey's picture

Spot on Bananamerican.

Anyone know where I can get a Vlad 2016 bumper sticker?

Thu, 10/01/2015 - 14:33 | 6616988 markovchainey
markovchainey's picture

THANK YOU Malachi Constant!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:46 | 6612903 Cynicles
Cynicles's picture

Anyone know where I can get a Vlad 2016 bumper sticker?

Look no further than the KGB or the CIA.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:56 | 6612942 CheapBastard
CheapBastard's picture

<< Russia is trolling america when they say "we have to fight them THERE so we don't have to fight them HERE" >>

 

More international law precedent estabilished by GWB.

Thu, 10/01/2015 - 07:44 | 6614993 kralizec
kralizec's picture

Well, it was established a long time before GWB...in the "modern era" look no further than LBJ.  But its genesis goes back much much further...

Nations have been operating for their own interests since the beginning...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 20:02 | 6613693 palmereldritch
palmereldritch's picture

In the War on Terror, Vlad is showing them the real definition of the word on

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:18 | 6612451 MalteseFalcon
MalteseFalcon's picture

stacking12321

"wow, sounds like bush."

Let's give it a few months and see if it looks like bush.

Maybe the "long war" can be greatly condensed if the Russians fight it.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:38 | 6612551 r0mulus
r0mulus's picture

He's clothing himself in language that Bush invented so that the US sheeple will have trouble contending with it- after all, they have already been conditioned to accept such logic as a given.

Putin is trolling the US leadership right now.

Seriously, did the WSJ just write "relatively moderate" about Al Nusra?
The same branch of that Al Qaida that purportedly downed the twin towers?
Fuck off WSJ. You're embarassing yourselves, not to mention direly offending 9/11 victims families.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:10 | 6612715 Grimaldus
Grimaldus's picture

The WSJ obamatron assclown progressive stupid, it burns.

 

Quite clear now this shit-show is OWNED by PROGRESSIVES.

 

Obirdbrain, Lurch and Hillary damn sure aren't constitutional conservatives, are they? 

 

The French? Progressive as well.

 

You see now, don't you? I'll say it again, the progressive stupid, it burns.

 

Constitutional Conservative policy is NON-INTERVENTION and NO WARS.

 

 

 

 

Grimaldus

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 17:27 | 6613105 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Meanwhile back in Amerika Trayvonville:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-artist-fatally-shot-oakland-...

Artist fatally shot while working on anti-violence mural in Oakland, CA

 

Thu, 10/01/2015 - 22:17 | 6619062 Ace006
Ace006's picture

It's a crazy world.  I used to hang on every word of the WSJ editorial pages and I despised the Soviets.  Now it's the reverse (substituting "Russians" for "Soviets"). If Putin is in favor of boiled cabbage, well, I am too.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:18 | 6612752 The central planners
The central planners's picture

He didnt say that.  He said the only way to stop Qatar's nat gas pipeline is to act pre-emptively

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:48 | 6611949 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

Moderate Rebels in Syria just means they cut your head  off more quickly.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:01 | 6612029 Berspankme
Berspankme's picture

Kerry must have slept thru Putin's speech at UN

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:53 | 6612628 ASACJon
ASACJon's picture

He had a tough day at the track and needed to rest.  I heard he was so beat that he was ready for bed even with his feeding bag on.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:19 | 6612650 L Bean
L Bean's picture

He was getting re-shoed, perfect time for a nap.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:59 | 6612964 CheapBastard
CheapBastard's picture

Kerry and the State dept are the laughing stock of the world nowadays: Nudelman, Kerry, Psacki, and on and on.

 

http://myfunnyreaction.com/media/k2/items/src/a121e39f639f5564abd14d939c...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 17:29 | 6613117 Freddie
Freddie's picture

yes but they are destroying America, Europe, Canada, Australia and NZ with open borders from the third world so they are doing their job for Soros and the other zoligarchs.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:05 | 6612058 agent default
agent default's picture

U.S real concern is that nobody gives a fuck about them or their NATO puppets anymore. 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:04 | 6612683 11b40
11b40's picture

You got that right.  I saw some of that propaganda press conference by Ashton Carter this afternoon, and he was choosing words very carefully, trying hard to get just the right descriptions of the "moderate resistance fighters".  Sure don't want to label them Al Qaeda, do we?

He also went on about what Russia must do to be taken seriously on the world stage.  What a tool.  All Russia has to do is tell the U.S. to bugger off, and bingo, the rest of the world takes them seriously.  What world does this dude live in.  He runs the Defense Department, so is it any surprised U.S. policy is so inane.

Oh, the horror!  Russia is not acting in a constructive manner, and he was clearly pissed that Russia gave thee U.S. 1 hour notice to stay out of Syrian air space because they were about to go on the offensive.  He seems so shocked that Putin wasn't just limiting attacks to "known ISIS areas".  If it weren't such a dangerous situation, it would be funny.  Instead, it is embarrassingly pathetic and lame.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:12 | 6612725 Grimaldus
Grimaldus's picture

Again, the progressive stupid, it burns.

 

 

 

Grimaldus

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 17:10 | 6612987 CheapBastard
CheapBastard's picture

Meanwhile ...

 

Amid Taliban gains, US military favors longer presence

 

http://news.yahoo.com/us-military-favors-keeping-troops-afghanistan-past...

 

Bullish for DC area house prices!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:56 | 6612363 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill's picture

Takes patience to school horses.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:13 | 6612438 Sokhmate
Sokhmate's picture

Especially with lame ones.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:09 | 6612693 MrPalladium
MrPalladium's picture

"U.S. IS CONCERNED RUSSIA'S INTENT IS PROTECTING ASSAD: KERRY"

No, Russia is smart enough to understand that you cannot safely move into isis territory while leaving anti Assad rebel forces behind you. No sane commander would take such a risk.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 20:44 | 6613843 Flagit
Flagit's picture

What part of "secure the Assad regime" do people not understand?

Thu, 10/01/2015 - 02:07 | 6614638 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Meh, I'm pretty sure that at airstrike altitudes, one group of thugs dressed in black, toting AK-47s whilst driving in white Toyota pickups looks like any other said group.  IOW, if you're NOT wearing a Syrian Army uniform, you can expect some Russian/Syrian ordnance in yer future!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:51 | 6611966 Bunga Bunga
Bunga Bunga's picture

Putin should rather send him a chessboard.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:58 | 6611998 Divine Wind
Divine Wind's picture

 

 

 

LOL.

With an extra black queen instead of a king !

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:58 | 6612006 Infinite QE
Infinite QE's picture

They should name a gay bar after him with that name. Two black queens.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 17:12 | 6612136 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Putin should rather send him a chessboard.

 

Putin should send him a cheeseboard. Michelle never lets Barry have a tasty treat.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:05 | 6612403 11b40
11b40's picture

Putin told Obama to hurry up and hit the ball, or he was going to play through.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 17:40 | 6613148 Grandad Grumps
Grandad Grumps's picture

Based on observation of his girly swing, I am not sure Obomber would know what to do with a men's golf club.

Then again, that is an insult to woman golfers. Sorry.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:19 | 6612151 Canadian Dirtlump
Canadian Dirtlump's picture

The allusion one could draw to Vietnam might be limited to this: the decision makers, town criers and mongoloids who make these policies, commit these crimes, cover them up, and smoke the dope given to us by the MSM are DONGS.

 

Let's let this sink in:

 

"They are largely dominated by relatively moderate rebel factions and Islamist groups like Ahrar al-Sham and the al Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front."

 

If we are at a point that the mainstream media refers to al quaeda, the supposed cause of the war on terror, as moderate, then we're better off all being dead.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:23 | 6612183 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

It doesn't get much more in your face than that.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:21 | 6612466 Sokhmate
Sokhmate's picture

That's just the way falsehood works: self-consumes to implosion

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:25 | 6612493 MalteseFalcon
MalteseFalcon's picture

Will the US simply affix a new label to IS, er ISIL, er ISIS and tell Russia the newly labeled guys are now off limits?

Thu, 10/01/2015 - 02:14 | 6614644 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Okay, how about US(le)SS?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:32 | 6612522 Canadian Dirtlump
Canadian Dirtlump's picture

So much to the chagrin of the moderat al quaeda supporters and the supporters of ISIL, Russia has apparently been fucking shit up for everyone all damn day.

 

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/breaking-russian-planes-strike-isi...

 

Russian General delivers written note to the US:

Get the fukk out of the area please because we are going to bomb it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-bombing-russia...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 18:06 | 6613266 Bay Area Guy
Bay Area Guy's picture

Well, I guess they're saying AQ is moderate because they only want to kill us eventually while ICIACIS wants to kill us now. What a bunch of fucks the media is. Anything for empire.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:44 | 6611928 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

We will have diplomatic finger pointing and name calling, which can go on for decades......

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:53 | 6611970 Hitlery_4_Dictator
Hitlery_4_Dictator's picture

Sadly it already has gone on for decades, the end times, they are here. Check out your local church soon.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:58 | 6612005 roisaber
roisaber's picture

It's the end times because Nero!

It's the end times because Charlamagne!

It's the end times because the Anti-Pople!

It's the end times because the fall of Constantinople!

It's the end times because Thiry Years' War!

It's the end times because WWI!

It's the end times because WWII!

It's the end times because the Cold War!

Will you Jesus-tards give it a fucking rest already? There's no such thing as the end times.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:17 | 6612138 viahj
viahj's picture

all living beings die

all empires die

all planets die

all stars die

all currencies die

YMMV but i reckon if one lived through any calamitous time in the past, it was the end time for many

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:27 | 6612211 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

That's about it. I speculate that the widespread belief in apocalyptic prophecy is really just an extension of the individual's knowledge and fear of his own certain demise. Sometimes the prophecy becomes self fulfilling.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:30 | 6612223 roisaber
roisaber's picture

Yup. All the apocalyptism and salvationism and all that crap is just the audible manifestation of a person's total lack of faith in the goodness of God. So they think they have to outscream, out-promise, and out-threaten all the other religions with increasingly ludicrous claims, because otherwise, they might wake up to the fact that we're ALL God and in the end there's nowhere to go and nothing to worry about.

The happy ending is that there is no ending, just eternal transformation.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:33 | 6612240 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Upvoted despite my own certainty that I am destined to be worm food and little more. But I'm OK with that.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:37 | 6612267 roisaber
roisaber's picture

The view of the self as some kind of homonuclus that ends at the boundaries of your skin is something you ought to question. Are your gut bacteria still you? Is the air currently in your lungs you? Is the air pressure that keeps your liquids from leaking out of your orifices you? Realize that the picture of "you" as a bag of meat is a myth and "you" are the whole thing, which extends all the way out to the most distant quasar and beyond.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:29 | 6612513 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

I thought that black hole felt a little bit tender. Now I know why.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:01 | 6612664 One Day Only
One Day Only's picture

You realize you're posting on ZH, right?  You're not supposed to get this deep.  Where's the anti-semitism?  Where's the one liner plays on Obama's name?  Where's the 9-11 truthiness?  

 

You're doing it wrong, man!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:05 | 6612691 Bring the Gold
Bring the Gold's picture

One of those things is not like the others! We have not been told the truth about 9/11. Anyone with the tiniest modicum of intellectual honesty knows that.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:03 | 6612673 Bring the Gold
Bring the Gold's picture

Awesome to see on ZH. Rock on. The sooner we collectively realize this the sooner we can start exploring space inner and outer in peace forever. Hat tip to Bill Hicks.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:34 | 6612849 Socratic Dog
Socratic Dog's picture

You'll be worm food.  But hopefully your genes will have been passed on (and not aborted out of existence).  That's the point of life.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 17:14 | 6613040 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Humanity doesn't deserve my genes. Take that any way you want.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:27 | 6612500 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

>The happy ending is that there is no ending, just eternal transformation.

Obviously you and I are not visiting the same asian massage parlors.
Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:17 | 6612140 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

yeah, but the blood moon---oo-oooooooooo.  <-------------- That's my ghost sound. 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:46 | 6611937 nyse
nyse's picture

The Economic Hitmen and the Jackals have utterly failed it seems...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 17:43 | 6613169 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Sadly no.  they have wrecked Syria for the benefit of the people who took the Golan. They will swamp UK, Europe and America with refugees to make them all less Christian.  They looted the US Treasury probably $100 billion with this op for MIC.  They are probably very pleased with themselves.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:46 | 6611940 rejected
rejected's picture

'check',,,, mate in two.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:47 | 6611946 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

 

 

My conspiratorial nature makes me wonder if TPTB are turning this shitshow into a "jihadist kill jar".  If this conflict is a magnet for

militant Muslims e.g., Uyghurs and Chechens, who align themselves with various factions on and within the Sunni/Shia split, and then commence

to killing each other and providing target practice for air sorties and drone operators, then it would behoove the rest of the world to

facilitate these folks making it to the theatre of battle, but not in returning home.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:07 | 6612066 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

I'm not endorsing the above game plan, just recognizing the possibility of its existence. 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:31 | 6612227 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Extremists are often operatives for foreign governments whether they know it or not. I doubt that those nations are ready to sweep up their operations at this time and so your premise seems unlikely. It could happen at the point at which these operatives are no longer viewed as useful.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:29 | 6612509 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

 

 

Good point, but all operatives aren't created equally.  Some, especially the unwitting,

are I presume, expendible and viewed as a thinning of the "radical" herd.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:39 | 6612868 Socratic Dog
Socratic Dog's picture

Only one problem.  The "jihadis" are largely mythical.  They don't exist.  Zio operatives on the other hand....

It's pretty obvious Russia isn't there to save itself from mythical jihadis.  Nor the US.  They are a convenient excuse.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:56 | 6611996 Sleepless Knight
Sleepless Knight's picture

So Russian bombed all 5 US trained moderate rebels?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:26 | 6612202 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

 FSA are just Islamist co-allitions now anyway. There are no moderate or rebels Syria Secular Uprising was hijacked by Jihadists long time back : http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/21/how-syrias-secular-uprising-was-h...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:37 | 6612230 taoJones
taoJones's picture

Funny how the West can find fault with Russia supposedly not hitting ISIS targets, but can't do the same themselves.  You turkeys have had a year to get the job done, now shut-up and let the men finish what you started...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:02 | 6612669 luckylongshot
luckylongshot's picture

When is the US going to realise they have lied so much and so outrageously about almost everything, from 9 11 to claiming the Russians shot down MH17 , that noone believes them anymore? Lying nazi scumbags...stop it!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 18:30 | 6613381 Charming Anarchist
Charming Anarchist's picture

When they grow a brain.

 

Are people asleep??? 

You would think with all of the Google Earth hype that average-intelligent folks would ignore all propaganda and ask for proof.  Instead of making allegations, the sheeple should ask the regime-stream-media for live "satellite" feeds or get the fuck out!!! 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 16:56 | 6612943 anonzero
anonzero's picture

In the second video the guy says "its the Americans"

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:37 | 6611885 Mark Mywords
Mark Mywords's picture

Oh the "Fog of War".

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:55 | 6611991 chunga
chunga's picture

Couple that with the fog of hasbara and expect visibility of what's actually happening to be zero. It's fucking thick.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:38 | 6611893 ZakuKommander
ZakuKommander's picture

Why is this a big deal?  If Assad is going to face ISIS, he cannot have rebel forces anywhere in his rear or on his supply lines.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:51 | 6611964 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

Hell, don't blame him one bit! , I don't let anyone near my rear!  Well except that one time,

but me and the Misses were way drunk.  TMI Wed.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:07 | 6612068 negative rates
negative rates's picture

You can't eat just one lays potato chip.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:39 | 6611895 Perimetr
Perimetr's picture

Targeted all 5 of them??

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:49 | 6611953 doggings
doggings's picture

exactly, how the fuck did they manage to locate those exact 4 or 5 so fast? 

must be a mole there or something  /lulz 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:39 | 6611898 Mick Shrimpton
Mick Shrimpton's picture

All the US has to do is bomb the shit out of ISIS in Iraq so they slip across the border into Syria.  Give the Russians 2-3 times the ISIS fighters to deal with.  Of course, the exact opposite will happen and Iraq will be flooded with ISIS fighters soon.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:41 | 6611912 AlfredNeumann
AlfredNeumann's picture

Russia chases ISIS back into Iraq where Iraq/Iran coaltion wipes them out.

Sounds good to me and to HELL with the USA for supporting ANY kind of terrorists.  Moderate or otherwise

 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:39 | 6611900 Colonel Klink
Colonel Klink's picture

One person's moderates are another person's radical terrorists!

Fuck you Obama, ZOG, and Shady Arabia!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:00 | 6612019 chubbar
chubbar's picture

Surprised that the US hasn't ressurected the old chestnut named "Freedom Fighter"!! That always gets the old patriotic juices flowing in the US public.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:09 | 6612077 froze25
froze25's picture

Rebel is better, Starwars is just that popular.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:41 | 6611910 RawPawg
RawPawg's picture

USA Ego is so Over-rated...let it go

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:41 | 6611911 Scooby Dooby Doo
Scooby Dooby Doo's picture

Scooby is scared of guns and rockets and crazy fighters!

My government keeps me safe, and well fed. Yea!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:42 | 6611915 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

How moderate are you?  Please select one, the recommended choice is highlighted.

 

A.  Moderately moderate

B.  Highly Moderate

C.  Crazy, Psychotically, Zealously Moderate    <----- this is the right answer

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:46 | 6611934 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

With extra psychosis on the side....

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:00 | 6612022 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Moderate fanatics vs. Fanatic moderates. It's on, bitchez - fight to the death.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:20 | 6612162 viahj
viahj's picture

I forget, do we support the People's Front of Judea or the Popular People's Front?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:10 | 6612087 negative rates
negative rates's picture

You picked the right day at least, tomorrow i give my drug dealer the money so i can enjoy the weekend.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:42 | 6611917 lolmao500
lolmao500's picture

Russia bombing Murica's backed terrorists. Boohoo

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:42 | 6611921 rejected
rejected's picture

Russia taking out the ussa armed and funded terror..... er.... 'freedom fighters'.

awwww,,, poor babies. lol.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:43 | 6611925 roisaber
roisaber's picture

The only good terrorist....

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:43 | 6611926 Johnny_Dangerously
Johnny_Dangerously's picture

We can expect politicians to lie.

Why aren't we hearing more directly from the Syrian people themselves?

Is it because no one cares?

Because they would largely support Assad against a rapacious influx of Saudi and Turkish trained and armed takfiri mercenaries?

The United States government has gone full Orwell - but what is frightening is the way in which, so soon after the obvious lies of Iraq, the corporate MSM is absolutely shamelessly peddling what amounts to "neocon" propaganda.

How can anybody really claim to know what's going on other than a lot of people being murdered due to the machinations of foreign states?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:51 | 6611965 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

"Why aren't we hearing more directly from the Syrian people themselves?"

because they are in a hungarian train station, and haven't been able to get on wi-fi yet?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:12 | 6612102 froze25
froze25's picture

Well as bias as it is towards the Russians, RT.com (Russian Times news network) has had plenty of coverage from Syria with interviews of Syrians.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:56 | 6611993 . . . _ _ _ . . .
. . . _ _ _ . . .'s picture

The difference between Russian and American (and French et al.) intervention in Syria is that the Russians are the only ones who had permission.

For news from the Syrian perspective, try this site:

https://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:04 | 6612048 PoasterToaster
PoasterToaster's picture

How would we hear from the people ANYWHERE in the world, and in the USA especially?  Dead silence in the media.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:47 | 6611933 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Remember how Al-CIA-DUH was on our side before they became the boogie man and then they were replaced by a bigger boogie man known as CIA-ISIS and now thy're on our side again fighting against our CIA-ISIS side? Ah, good times..., good times.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 19:53 | 6613658 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Yeah but according to Aghani boy pedo General Adulterer Petreaus (can I get my biography written by a slut with big t*ts Petreaus) - Al See Eye Aye Duh are our friends again.  Or did that change?

I thought ISIS was Ritz Katz new and improved Al See Eye Aye Duh with Hollywood videos and lots of really scary stuff.  I really hope Rita's next video will show ISIS hostages in orange suits being eaten by zombies.  

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:46 | 6611938 Falling Down
Falling Down's picture

Cue some faux outrage from McAmnesty in 3...2...1...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:46 | 6611941 astoriajoe
astoriajoe's picture

maybe they were civilians, in which case O should be cool with it. 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:47 | 6611944 Salzburg1756
Salzburg1756's picture

The Jews wanted Assad out because he was a moderate who opposed their dominance in the area. We created ISIS to get rid of Assad, but surprise! some of the people, actually most of the people, whom we armed turn out to be immoderates. Who knew?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:51 | 6611971 blabam
blabam's picture

Pretty sure the Sauds want him out (Shia ruler over 75% sunni state). Or are you one of those Sauds are secretly zionist jews guys? 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:03 | 6612041 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

 

 

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/11/syria/belt-text/1

Wasn't that long ago Assad made diplomatic overtures to the US, but his gestures were spurned.  In my opinion the

die was cast long ago on the game plan for the fate of Syria.  Neocon influence didn't dissapate with the change in the

White House.  The ship of state doesn't turn on a dime, especially if the deep state's hand is on the tiller, and the neocons

moved the dime, (or more likely stuck it in their pocket)

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 19:37 | 6613626 Cliff Claven Cheers
Cliff Claven Cheers's picture

Ater 7 years of following Neo-Con policies I think we can safely say they are "Neo-Libs" and quit blaming the conservatives for everything O continues from bad old days of bush.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 21:23 | 6613989 Freddie
Freddie's picture

the Neo cons and Neo Libs are both evil scum and the same people. McCain, Schumer, Graham-nesty, Feinstein, Boxer, Goldberg, Rubio, Flake, Corker, Cohen, Blumenthal and all the rest are puppets for Soros and the Zoligarchs, PNAC and AIPAC gang.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:08 | 6612064 . . . _ _ _ . . .
. . . _ _ _ . . .'s picture

Actually, and not surprisingly, it has all been over oil, and border encroachment. The first oil drilling rights given by the Israelis in the Golan Heights (which used to be Syrian land) was to American interests.

Syrians objected to Israel unilaterally re-drawing the border between Syria and the Golan Heights (they wanted to move the border back another five kilometers into Syrian land to create a 'security zone.')

http://www.globalresearch.ca/srael-grants-first-golan-heights-oil-drilli...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/syria-turkey-israel-and-the-greater-middle-...

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:14 | 6612112 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

 

 

Good point, and now with the advent and vastly improved horizontal drilling techniques, oil may be being siphoned out of other areas.

Supposedly that was one of the reasons Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait; after many warnings to stop drilling under the border, he

finally lost his shit and stormed in burning wells.  That may be bullshit, but who knows, not me.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:20 | 6612160 . . . _ _ _ . . .
. . . _ _ _ . . .'s picture

Agreed. See below.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:19 | 6612152 . . . _ _ _ . . .
. . . _ _ _ . . .'s picture

The 'security zone' is an excuse for Israeli to extend its border and increase slant-drilling into Syrian territory to get even more oil. The Kuwaitis were also caught slant-drilling into Iraq's oil fields. This started a war between Iraq and Kuwait, but when the US showed support for Kuwait, Saddam started to price his oil in Euros instead of dollars. The rest is, as they say, history - which looks like it is starting to repeat itself.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:48 | 6611951 Insurrexion
Insurrexion's picture

 

 

I'm changing my fucking name to:

"The Source"

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:49 | 6611954 toddf
toddf's picture

I love how we call them "rebels" when we support their terrorist activities, but then we call them "terrorists" when we don't.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:12 | 6612101 arbwhore
arbwhore's picture

Orwell in action.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:15 | 6612116 froze25
froze25's picture

Starwars is just that popular.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:39 | 6612553 Fahque Imuhnutjahb
Fahque Imuhnutjahb's picture

 

 

Kinda like Latin American "guerrillas" vs. "freedom fighters".

"Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see"

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:51 | 6611962 phoolish
phoolish's picture

This would be the 4 rebels we paid $500M to train?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 15:33 | 6612525 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

Have you seen the price on new light sabers lately? Simply outrageous.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:55 | 6611968 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

Fuck - when ISIS is being destroyed by Putin, it suddenly becomes moderate in the free and fair Western media.

Can you tell a more transparent lie?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:13 | 6612111 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Heck fire, I lie even when I tell the truth.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:52 | 6611975 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

Russia says it’s bombing ISIS in Syria. It’s actually bombing their enemies.

Cornering America/NATO and helping Syria/Assad while eliminating ex Soviet terrorists in Syria.

Either America/NATO have to support Russia/Syria/Assad or they have to support ISIS! :)

Masterstroke of Putin!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:53 | 6611980 Thisisbullishright
Thisisbullishright's picture

What could POSSIBLY go wrong here??

 

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:54 | 6611982 Mark Mywords
Mark Mywords's picture

2015.75 in action.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/world/middleeast/mahmoud-abbas-palesti...

Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority President, Says He’s No Longer Bound by Oslo Accords
Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:18 | 6611988 cowdiddly
cowdiddly's picture

 Dang, that took out like 3 city blocks. US is mad it probably got some of their plants

The final knife cut that cuts the Petro dollars throat to bleed out. A protracted war

Might ought to check Fort Knox when the New Neville Chamberlain wants paid. What do you mean Tricky Dikie left a fuckin note?

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:55 | 6611990 Scooby Dooby Doo
Scooby Dooby Doo's picture

Can't we mediate at the UN with the ISIS chaps. This is getting too scary for Scooby!

Shaggy, where are you!

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:00 | 6612020 Infinite QE
Infinite QE's picture

Hate to throw you an existential crisis but both you and ISIS were created by the ZIA.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:31 | 6612226 theallseeinggod
theallseeinggod's picture

We could mediate, if it wasn't for you meddling kids

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:56 | 6611995 Mr. Bones
Mr. Bones's picture

Literally how did they do that?

There were only five of them, 2 of them defected to one of the "bad" sides and the other three had their weapons taken by AQ which is apparently not on the run.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 14:16 | 6612134 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Musta been book smart, street smarts just don't cut it anymore.

Wed, 09/30/2015 - 13:59 | 6612014 thunderchief
thunderchief's picture

The fact that they have to use the word "moderate"so much says a lot. 

Moderate what in that part of the world?

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