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Obama Weighs "Syria Retreat" As White House Ends Training Of Moderate Rebels
This past weekend we called Obama's latest failed attempt to replace Syria's president (after a comparable attempt in 2013 also ended in failure) for what it is: "Make no mistake, this is shaping up to be the most spectacular US foreign policy debacle since Vietnam - and we don't think that's an exaggeration."
Some of our high level observations:
The US, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, attempted to train and support Sunni extremists to overthrow the Assad regime. Some of those Sunni extremists ended up going crazy and declaring a Medeival caliphate putting the Pentagon and Langley in the hilarious position of being forced to classify al-Qaeda as "moderate." The situation spun out of control leading to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and when Washington finally decided to try and find real "moderates" to help contain the Frankenstein monster the CIA had created in ISIS (there were of course numerous other CIA efforts to arm and train anti-Assad fighters, see below for the fate of the most "successful" of those groups), the effort ended up being a complete embarrassment that culminated with the admission that only "four or five" remained and just days after that admission, those "four or five" were car jacked by al-Qaeda in what was perhaps the most under-reported piece of foreign policy comedy in history.
Meanwhile, Iran sensed an epic opportunity to capitalize on Washington's incompetence. Tehran then sent its most powerful general to Russia where a pitch was made to upend the Mid-East balance of power. The Kremlin loved the idea because after all, Moscow is stinging from Western economic sanctions and Vladimir Putin is keen on showing the West that, in the wake of the controversy surrounding the annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Russia isn't set to back down. Thanks to the fact that the US chose extremists as its weapon of choice in Syria, Russia gets to frame its involvement as a "war on terror" and thanks to Russia's involvement, Iran gets to safely broadcast its military support for Assad just weeks after the nuclear deal was struck. Now, Russian airstrikes have debilitated the only group of CIA-backed fighters that had actually proven to be somewhat effective and Iran and Hezbollah are preparing a massive ground invasion under cover of Russian air support. Worse still, the entire on-the-ground effort is being coordinated by the Iranian general who is public enemy number one in Western intelligence circles and he's effectively operating at the behest of Putin, the man that Western media paints as the most dangerous person on the planet.
Today, less than a week later, we have confirmation that this assessment was accurate, following two major developments in the Syria global proxy war.
First, Bloomberg reports that a week into Russia's military intervention in Syria, some top White House advisers and National Security Council staffers are trying to persuade President Barack Obama to scale back U.S. engagement there, to focus on lessening the violence and, for now, to give up on toppling the Syrian regime.
It adds that "the administration came to this conclusion late. Despite warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies that Putin's military buildup was intended to keep Assad in power, the White House nonetheless decided to explore cooperating with Russia on the ground. Throughout the summer and into the fall, top Russian officials -- including Putin himself in a meeting last month with Obama at the U.N. -- said they were not committed to keeping Assad in power for the long term, and would only target Islamic State fighters in their military offensive, according to U.S. officials."
So U.S. intelligence is shocked that following a multi-year campaign which was launched in 2011, which escalated in 2013 to a near-naval war, and which culminated in 2014 with the "mysterious" emergence of ISIS whose stated purpose according to leaked CIA documents was a simple one: to depose Assad, that Obama's biggest antagonist on the global superpower stage, Russian president Putin would do everything in his power to prop up his own key pawn in the middle east.
Putin's intervention has had the U.S. flummoxed from day one. As the Russian military moved into Syria, U.S. intelligence officials tell us, the intelligence community was skeptical that it intended to focus its military campaign on the Islamic State. Even so, as the New York Times reported, the U.S. was surprised by the speed with which Russia built and then announced its new coalition with the governments of Syria, Iran and Iraq to support its military campaign.
Did we say "U.S. intelligence"? Scratch that.
In any event, after confirming virtually every word of our conclusion from past weekend, now that the administration realizes it is trapped without a credible way out absent de-escalation, it has no choice but to do just that:
Obama has ruled out engaging in a proxy war with Putin's military, leaving few good options. One path, however, would mean finding ways to tamp down the fighting by negotiating small, local ceasefires with the Assad regime. “The White House somehow thinks we can de-escalate the conflict while keeping Assad in power,” one senior administration official told us.
“The current policy of the United States and its partners, to increase pressure on Assad so that he ‘comes to the table’ and negotiates his own departure, must be rethought,” Malley’s predecessor at the National Security Council, Philip Gordon, wrote at Politico as Russia was amassing its forces in Syria.
The planted Bloomberg story, meant solely to lessen the blow from the latest foreign policy humiliation adds that "that view, being pushed by top White House National Security staffers, including senior coordinator for the Middle East Rob Malley, is not new. But it has received fresh emphasis given Russian intervention."
To be sure, there are neo-con war hawks, led by John Kerry and Samantha Power, who as a reminder was the puppet-masted behind the Ukraine coup, who want to escalate to the bitter end, even if it literally ends in a mushroom cloud: "The NSC view is opposed by top officials in other parts of the government, especially Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power. They are trying to persuade Obama that the only way to solve Syria is to increase the pressure on Assad in the hopes he will enter negotiations."
However, just like in the 2013 Syria campaign, when Kerry huffed and puffed and ultimately folded, so two years later the man who married into the Heinz family fortune will have no choice but to fold again:
Yet Kerry and Power now find themselves without any hope that Putin might bring the Syrian regime to the table. Kerry, though always skeptical of Russia, has been the point man on engaging the Russian government through several conversations with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But it’s now clear the Russians were leading the Obama administration down the primrose path.
Others in Congress have already understood the endgame: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said that by not doing more to confront Putin’s escalation, "the administration is tacitly admitting it will no longer be able to secure Assad’s ouster."
The implications are profound:
"If Assad is staying and there’s no political process in sight, this argument goes, the U.S. might as well focus on alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people and mitigate the growing refugee crisis.
Local ceasefires have been struck sporadically throughout the war, mostly in areas under siege by the Assad regime. The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has been pushing this idea for over a year.
This means that the dramatic migrant exodus heading into Europe, which is now spun as positive for the economy, and would have been the catalyst form more deficit-funding QE as a result of debt-funded spending spree required by Germany to pay for the millions in refugees, may be coming to an end, with substantial implications for monetary policy.
Bloomberg's own conclusion shows a glimmer of hope that the end is not in sight just yet:
Caught between two camps in his administration, Obama may not end up shifting the U.S. approach to Syria at all, although the de-escalation side has the momentum. Either way, as Russia, Iran and the Syrian regime change facts on the ground, the relative position of America and the Syrians it has supported becomes graver by the day.
And then moments ago, the NYT confirmed that the de-escalation process has begun, when it reported that "the Obama administration has ended the Pentagon’s $500 million program to train and equip Syrian rebels, administration officials said on Friday, in an acknowledgment that the beleaguered program had failed to produce any kind of ground combat forces capable of taking on the Islamic State in Syria."
Pentagon officials were expected to officially announce the end of the program on Friday, as Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter leaves London after meetings with his British counterpart, Michael Fallon, about the continuing wars in Syria and Iraq.
A senior Defense Department official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that there would no longer be any more recruiting of so-called moderate Syrian rebels to go through training programs in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. Instead, a much smaller training center would be set up in Turkey, where a small group of “enablers” — mostly leaders of opposition groups — would be taught operational maneuvers like how to call in airstrikes.
To be sure, the admin tried to soften the blow: moments ago Reuters added that "The U.S. military program to train and equip Syrian rebels is not "ending" but is instead being refocused, a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday, ahead of an announcement on overhauling the troubled U.S. effort." No matter how one diplomatically phrases it though, at this point the wheels are in motion.
Which brings us to our own conclusion from last week:
If Russia ends up bolstering Iran's position in Syria (by expanding Hezbollah's influence and capabilities) and if the Russian air force effectively takes control of Iraq thus allowing Iran to exert a greater influence over the government in Baghdad, the fragile balance of power that has existed in the region will be turned on its head and in the event this plays out, one should not expect Washington, Riyadh, Jerusalem, and London to simply go gentle into that good night.
It is precisely this scenario that U.S. "intelligence" just realized, and why Obama is now sounding the retreat. The only question is whether Putin, who is now on the offensive across the mid-east region, agrees to take Obama's olive branch, or whether he continues the "campaign to end ISIS", in the process creating the biggest shift in the mid-east balance of power with a Russia-Syria-Iran-Iraq axis, and with China waiting patiently in the wings.

Finally, this may be just the catalyst that ends the torrid surge in oil higher over the past week now that the biggest geopolitical factor pushing black gold above $50 is in the rear view mirror.
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I think you are right on the money.
That is the conundrum.
Is Putin part of the plan or not?
I sometimes think that, but , that would mean Obama is willing to swallow his pride and look like a fool and I just can't see that happening. I'm still sticking with Obama is clueless and arrogant
Yeah, NOW
Whatever it takes to save Obama's legacy.
Plan B: Flood Syria with poor proud of their country but only in another country Mexicans and Dutch junkies.
LOL. Hey, it's working here!
Not a bad idea!
The article implicitly promotes lunacy and deserves downvotes for that.
According to the article, "Obama folds, again".
Not blundered. Not burned for imperial hubris.
But instead,"folds"? "Retreats"? Really?
Should Obama double the Pentagon allowance for "training" terrorists?
Should he accept Brzezinski's advice to "disarm" the Russians in Syria?
To portray the problem as Obama 'folding' or 'retreating' is macho idiocy.
The problem is that the policies are despicable and need to be ended.
Or maybe you can actually finish the thought and realize that what he "folds" on is promoting precisely the MIC-complex sponsored neo-con lunacy you describe.
I believe we are in full agreement except for some word nuance.
In context of article, he “folds” carries an implication due to weakness of character, i.e. someone strong’ would not fold.
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/20223/what-exactly-does-president-obama-will-fold-faster-than-a-lawn-chair-mean
Same for “retreats”. Conjures up macho hubris (e.g. “these colors never run”).
Alternatives?:
Obama and his cabal admit nothing, learn nothing, and will change nothing. US policy of destruction will continue to result in more self-made disasters. Pushing everyone else down in order to stay on top is not an ‘endless’ policy and it will never end well.
Obama and his advisors will now decide on the “smartest” actions and spin to harm others in the expectation of gaining dominance. More destruction for Syria, or focus somewhere else?
As with any group of terrorists, the strategy does not entail improving anything. The strategy is to destroy and create chaos to make rivals weaken and collapse in their attempt to maintain order and function.
what an inept world wide embarassment this POS but just loved by the lofo demonrats as he & his party destroy America
Since when does the government stop throwing money at something because it not working? More than likely somebody wasn't getting enough kick back.
Since when does the president run the country?
This article sounds like it was penned by David Rockefeller.
Maybe Brzezinski wrote it nervously last night, hoping he could blame Obama. Or maybe it was that ISIS Czar that got fired last week.
Obama, Kerry, Power are war criminals. Where's the UN when you need them?
Patience, grasshopper, patience.
Agreed. Openly equipping rebels to fight against a country with elected leaders is a war crime!
The concept of "war crime" is a funny one. It is saying "War is OK, but only if you kill people this way, not that way."
DAY-um.
Vlady went Deliverance on O, Johnny Heinz, *and* Samantha P.
Usually you pay extra for that kinda action, Cotton,
Okay, in Paul Sandhu's latest interview with Jim Willie, he mentions that it is odd that a lot of Syrian refugees, living in Turkey, are suddenly shown walking into Europe. They didn't seem to have any issues crossing the borders of the countries in between and finding money to travel. He says he heard that US NGO's financed their travel.
Any idea why these "agencies" are financing this "migration?"
The UN cut the food and medical budgets to the refugee camps has spawned an inter-continental refugee crisis......so who ordered the cut of nickels and dimes - compared to $500 million for 5 guys training?
they wanted young able Syrians out - and Iran et al foiled the game
Jim Willie has been lecturing all year about the big crash being the end of this year, now he says the crash has been 'delayed for a year'.
He's got a superb track record. No one can predict timing perfectly, but Jim Willie's analysis of what is happening beneath the surface is usually spot on.
Better Obama folds then starting WW3 with Russia and China.
The Nobel Peace Prize, a vainglorious personality and ambitions to shape the world to suit his own liberal legacy, have served to reduce the US to a barking dog trailing the Putin caravan.
The Peace Prize Laureate, a weak and stupid pretty boy anxious to please his necon and Wahabaist masters, has discovered the American Empire is not inevitable. Though he may fall for his handlers' spin and never know it.
Quoting Vince Lombardi -"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE!!!"
Ah yes, another Putin-is-Awesome7777! contrived strawman post. That's new.
Ah yes, another Putin-is-Awesome7777! contrived strawman post.
Unlike you, they tend to get it right most of the time. :)
What ever happened to that "Putin can't do shit in Syria unless US allows it" theory?
I dunno, was that one of yours?
These are your words:
What will really occur is Putin's Su-25s will go in at lower-level and Western jets will bomb from high level, and what putin wants, namely exclusive access, he will not get, unless there is agreement
I'm all ears for your future "analyses" :)
That's rich coming from an MIC apologist like you. Like your masters in DC, you don't see the hypocrisy of your own words.
Well if you want to be an ignorant troll moron which you seem very content with, you can pretend that's the case, sure.
Or you face the fact I'm simply showing dumbshit dupes like you that the US MIC is many times bigger and far more more developed than the Russian MIC, and they are vastly more able.
Consequently ignorant chumps like you who are pimping superpowpow pootie don't even understand the basic quantity, quality and scale of the difference here.
But if the Russian MIC were actually what you believe it to be it would be exactly the same as the US MIC in virtually every way. No difference whatsoever in its nature or practices. And doing exactly the same things.
Oh look it's already begun! Isn't that just so cute!
And it's been doing the same things on a smaller scale for a few years now!
And you're one of its supremely mind-fucked cheerleaders cheering on the mass murder, because the turquoise camo is so pretty and the propaganda is all gleaming new and its utter stupidity and trenchant hypocrisy has not even occurred to you yet.
You're too busy pouting and sniveling and saying, "... but dah USSA is worserer ... just looks! ... LOOKS!! ... it's evil!", etc.
This time is different.
You are too stupid and ignorant to realize how the very words you write validate every negative comment made about you. You are an artist who produces masterpieces of bullshit and ad hominem attacks. Well done on contributing nothing for the rest of us.
Never said Putin is awesome. I have quite a few reservations about him. But he is not inept, while our so called leaders are.
Why do you claim them as leaders? Disown them mate. All of them.
It's reassuring to know that while Obama and his cronies in congress are arming terrorists and royally screwing the pooch in the Middle East, they are just as eagerly going to try and disarm the U.S. populace in the remaining months of his regime.....er, adminstration.
edit: forgot to add /s
But as I stated in the previous post regarding this matter this is all part of the plan or the flexibility. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-03/largest-us-foreign-policy-blund...
For the record I tried
Obama destroyed America and now he has destroyed a region and the the power shift conflicts 100% with the US's interest. What an epic failure this administration has been.
the truth is that it is a positive for the people of the world and US middle class
the people can finally see how sick this game is and - if if if - Trump can win we could have major change - he is not the military guy he projects
I don't disagree with you necessarily. However I think we may have a different opinion 18 months or less from now when Iran, Russia and Syria flex their muscles against the Saudis. Would hate to live in Isreal.
Israel is probably going to see some hard times soon. Especially with Iranians in the neighborhood now.
would hate to live in israel regardless
Obama is not responsible for destroying America, that had already been done by the Bush family and financial sector gangs before, Obama is merely managing the decline of an empire in the same way as Attlee did with the rapid decline of the British empire.
complete nonsense - there has not been an independent POTUS since Nixon
there were three Presidents post war - Eisenhower / JFK / Nixon that were independent thinkers at the end of their terms.
You really think that Obama has a say in any of this. How incredibly naive. The real question is when will the psychotic TPTB end the disgrace of a once great country?
This may be the worst "US foreign policy debacle since Vietnam", but the media will never report it that way. The neocons run the media, and they never saw a war they didn't like.
This is the beginning of the end of America's super power status. It won't be long before the dollar loses as global reserve because now the world realizes that the US military can no longer provide security to the world. Just look at EU now moving to Russia's side. How long before the OPEC and China moves in and demand IMF to change the special drawing rights. USA will go to actual declaration of bankruptcy soon and the one to blame is the intervention of Obama to the instability of the world from more global trade to Arab Spring to Ukraine and at the same time defunding the military and reducing it's force. You don't have to use a strong military just display it to show the world you have the ability and that will keep their fate on you. They'll hate you, maybe, but surely they'll fear you.
"US military can no longer provide security to the world"
Is this what you call providing security?:
Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II.
http://williamblum.org/books/killing-hope/#toc
"If you flip over the rock of American foreign policy of the past century, this is what crawls out… invasions … bombings … overthrowing governments … occupations … suppressing movements for social change … assassinating political leaders … perverting elections … manipulating labor unions … manufacturing “news” … death squads … torture … biological warfare … depleted uranium … drug trafficking … mercenaries …"
Table of ContentsGOOD!!
SO SAD HE IS DISAPPOINTING AGAIN THE WAR MONGERS...
this was really a proxy war on the part of Israel, and so Jersulem does not get exactly what it wants. that hardly seems like a crushing US defeat
"the White House nonetheless decided to explore cooperating with Russia on the ground."
When pray tell did the White EVER decide to explore cooperating with Russia? They have done nothing but try to antagonize the bear at every turn.
"in an acknowledgment that the beleaguered program had failed to produce any kind of ground combat forces capable of taking on the Islamic State in Syria."
They couldn't find anyone that wanted to fight ISIS/Al-Qaeda because they were training ISISISIS/Al-Qaeda. All those rebels were interested in is topling Assad and the US knew it.
It's amazing that they let themselves be so embarrassed by this debacle and by allowing Putin to show them up with his own bombing. Assad should be proud he is
so important to the US they would cut off their nose to spite their face in order to topple him.
"the campaign to end ISIS, in the process creating the biggest shift in the mid-east balance of power with a Russia-Syria-Iran-Iraq axis, and with China waiting patiently in the wings."
This is the only analysis that matters. Who in their right minds thinks Putin is going to forgive and forget. He's going for the jugular. US influence in the middle east will be limited to Tel Aviv and Riyadh.
Iraq is the next huge domino to fall. Putin's next prize after that will be Cairo.
"Obama's biggest antagonist on the global superpower stage, Russian president Putin would do everything in his power to prop up his own key pawn in the middle east."
I'm not sure the characterization of Assad being a 'pawn' of Putin is a very accurate assessment of the situation. I would assume that there is a mutual quid pro quo involved as Putin benefits by having a secure Med base and lack of a competing gas pipeline with Assad firmly in power and the benefit to Assad is obvious.
Putin's calculated gamble to return Russian influence to the world stage, particularly with Iran, is a Mid-East game changing event if he can avoid getting mired in a drawn out contest.
Rubbing Washington's nose in the shit-cake they baked is an added bonus.
When the dust settles (at least to a degree where you may have some low grade isolated terrorists acts by fanatical sunni leftover from ISIS) watch all those no bid contracts for energy development, re-construction and weapons supplies Moscow wins in appreciation coming from Damascus and Baghdad.
Surrender!
Just like the French.
Love to see a list of the mercs killed in Syria in the last month.Oh well,High risk/High Yield.
Ya get to see Russian weaponry up close....
I'm no fan of Obama but I just cant seem to get the comment he made to Putin years back about "needing more time" out of my head while thinking about what is happening in Syria.
I think it was pretty obvious from the start Obama was never a big fan of the USA. We know this from his communist upbringing and the people he surrounded himself with while rising through the ranks. Like other comments I have read here, I feel as if there is something more sinister at play and that the Russian intervention is just a piece of that plan. How could we possibly be "amazed" or "shocked" at the speed at which the Russians deployed their arsenal/men when we can tap phones and hack into computers of political heads all over the world. For gods sake Google knows what I want to search for before I even can type it in.
Part of me is convinced that he wants to shift the balance of power in the ME away from the US and towards the Russians. The other part of me is confused but feels there is something deeper.
Any possible theories?
Lagun
Folks who blame Obama are wasting their time and energy, and can't see the big picture. They are being distracted so they don't see the real culprits. Obama is a nobody. A very good orator. But other than that, a puppet on a string -- an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.
Exactly, ZH loves to blame Obama for everything and label everything that happens as due to Obama. But he's just a figurehead. Just like Bush--and empty suit.
He's so easy to hate. a narcissistic scrawny little prick
Check out some of the non-US-propaganda clearnet sites as well as some of the political activist onion sites using Tor. For the technically proficient I2P, Freenet, etc... have some interesting allegations as well.
Obummer regime ending leverage may be being put to good use by what appears to be the only sane players left on this planet. Read and reach your own conclusions; however consider doing it quietly and securely.
Recommend using Tails: https://tails.boum.org/ for relatively secure browsing. Please consider reviewing https://tails.boum.org/doc/about/warning/index.en.html and the documentation before first use.
“the administration is tacitly admitting it will no longer be able to secure Assad’s ouster.”
Cue “Just Us” eliminating more than a few minions... Zero sympathy.
Syria is in good hands, time for We the People to focus on derailing those “secret, fast track” treaties that are allegedly <cough> good for <Just> Us.
For example: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/us/toys-r-us-brings-temporary-foreign-...
This was all set up between Putin and Obama to begin with. Comparisons to Vietnam are frivolous at best - 60,000 Americans died in Vietnam.
>Putin's intervention has had the U.S. flummoxed
We've been that way since 2008 when we elected a flummox as president.
Hey, can someone please post Josh Earnest's fax number or something, I know how he should spin this: Assad has already been removed, by Russia, he's now just a figurehead and will be forced to drink vodka and arm-wrestle Putin (and lose) on a daily basis.
The EU has been or should have been even more "flummoxed":
1. Russians apparently have their own "Tomahawks" ("Kalibr") cruise missiles
2. The "Kalibrs" have far greater range than "Tomahawks" and can be loaded with nuclear warheads
3. The "Kalibrs" on the Russian naval vessels in the Baltic, Black and Mediterranian Sea cover ALL of European NATO countries and capitals
4. "Like long-range anti-ship missiles, land-attack missiles are usually turbojet or turbofan powered cruise missiles. To prevent early detection and counter-measures, they usually fly near the ground at very low altitude, employing terrain-following techniques, either with terrain-following radar or with precise navigation system, like GPS, combined with a stored map of obstacles and ground elevation data "
They look very comparable to the Tomahawk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M-54_Klub
But if the Kalibr has a supersonic terminal mode, I have not heard that the (current) Tomahawk has that.
Russia may also have full-supersonic attack missiles (currently) unmatched by the US.
The thing is, even at Russian prices, these things aren't going to be cheap. Use them now and then for PR reasons, and to get rid of old models and test new models, but short of a real war you want to stay with more tactical stuff.
And now an intifada, uprising announced in Palestine. Not again 2000 to die I hope.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/09/hamas-leader-gaza-declares-...
OT : How we doing with that hospital bombing investigation ? Any word ?
Obama is the same as GW Bush: He inherited the war strategy and war aims of the Zionists, who can control the agenda of whoever occupies the Oval Office. Regardless whether it would have been Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, or Mitt Romney: This "surprising" turn of events would have happened anyway.
The strategy is flawed because it intends to change the fundamental social order in the targeted countries, and to change the flow of their economic activities toward the predatory capitalists in conormance with the New World/Globalist Order. The Russians and Chinese have strong nationalist tendencies, and the Islamic nationalists have strong cultural tendencies. They are viscerally opposed to what the one-percenters want; and so they will resist. Most perplexing to the ZioCons, is the willingness of these peoples to endure physical and emotional suffering for prolonged periods of time in order to defend their aspirations and their core beliefs. Bribery, extortion, misinformation, assassinations, sanctions, and -ultimately- war aren't working as well as they did in America and Europe throughout the 20th century.
The Russians are demonstrating early successes because they have aligned their actions with the aspirations of a critical mass of the people in these distressed countries. Wherever their interests do not conform with these aspirations, they stay out of the conflict.
That doesn't guarantee victory, however.
The United States aligned itself with the aspirations of the majority of Vietnamese people in 1961; but LBJ's interests did not align with those of the "old guard" anti-communists of the 1950s. (JFK was "old guard" too, in at least this respect.) That is why "regime change" is such an attractive "solution" when an adversary cannot be "turned" otherwise.
re John Kerry and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power are trying to persuade Obama that the only way to solve Syria is to increase the pressure on Assad..
JOHN KERRY: The Horse
SAMANTHA POWER: The Horse's Ass
Get for the welcome mat from Obama to let ISIS members in the US.
This story should be getting more press. With DC in check in the middle east they are looking to poke the dragon now.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/09/us-china-usa-southchinasea-idU...
Beijing already warning them not to try. With China mulling an entry into Syria to support Russia, might this be a ploy by DC to counter that by keeping China occupied in their own backyard.
I noticed msm is not uttering a word about Russians fighting ISIS terrorists in Syria.
Unless, it's a story that forwards the zionist agenda, it is not news.
It is complete insanity to judge win/lose/draw in an extremely multi-dimensional world. 100 years from now, historians will be debating the issues in dimensions not yet considered.
It is absolutely NOT possible for human minds to play these games, we lose by playing.
https://thinkpatriot.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/high-dimensioned-games/
https://thinkpatriot.wordpress.com/hubris-to-the-power-of-dunning-kruger/
That's what happens when your leader leads you into becoming Putin's pussy. Once you taunted the French for being surrender monkeys.
Iranian General just got popped around Aleppo. The CIA must be part honey badger, huh.
Too bad the MSM doesn't report how many spooks from Langley got waxed. Syrian news is reporting dozens of Turkish/Saudi commanders KIA. Wait until newly arrived Spetznas perp walk some CIA. Although, I doubt any are left since the "program" has officially been shut down.
Please post a link.
Hossein Hamedani
"Breaking news" from the always reliable Debka
http://www.debka.com/newsupdatepopup/13042/Top-Iranian-general-killed-ne...
Nobody said it would be an easy task cleaning out AmeriKa's rat fuck terrorist allies, Shlomo...remember when US generals took the field to fight the enemy?
Yeah, me neither.
What we need is a regime change in the US and a Nuremberg type war criminal court.
Well Put!
"Nuremberg type war criminal court."
Only problem was the nuremberg court was a kangaroo court stacked with bolshevik jews and was an integral part of the larger holohoax plot.
The lesson is that the president is just the bitch of the incompetent Deep State. These slavemasters are so bad at what they do they are going to let their idle slaves starve to death on the way out the door, because they are too stupid to figure out something useful to do with the 100 million+ who are leaving their plantation.
1) Assad closes borders (exept for Russians and Iranias).
2) Assad closes it's airspace (exept for Russians and Iranias).
3) All foreigners are demanded to leave (CIA etc.) the country (exept for Russians and Iranias).
4) Russia tells the world the present Russian troops are under Assads command (only for the outside world).
5) Assad bombs and shoots the fuck everything that doesn't confirm to his orders.
6) 2 months everything stable, christians and muslims (also kurds) are living together agian in the same country.
So exept from a Quatar pipeline this would be a good thing......
Well this is fun; Americans waking up and realising that their entire apparatus of politics and governance is corrupt shit. Burger eating, coke slurping surrender monkeys.
I guess $500 million is the "bottom line" for Barry's fiascos.
May i, please..
MOEHAWAHAAWAHAWHA, pussies.
So, that's a relief.
On the bright side you are all going the pay less tax because of the "retread".
O, wait..... MOEHAWAHAAWAHAWHA,
"And just like that Obama folds, again."
I guess its better than doubling-down on failure?
Obama surrenders florida to Cuba
The New York Times reported this story today. In it, there is not a single mention of Assad. Revisionist history comes into play, the NYT says the "moderate rebels" were trained to fight ISIS. What a fucking joke. Do they think we all have short term memory loss? Also, training isn't ending, it's moving to Turkey where they will be trained in calling in airstrikes. Moving training does not equal ending training. I suspect the King of Jordan is getting nervous, after all those ISIS guys got to go somewhere when they flee the Russians and Iranians. Jordan would be easy pickings.
We have always been at war with Eastasia. Or whatever.
All your moderate rebels are belong to us.
"We have always been at war with Eastasia. Or whatever."
Just like the old Soviet Union, the NYT is re-writing history. USA and Russia have changed places.
US State Dept. Supplied most of the Toyota trucks being used by ISIS.
http://m.journal-neo.org/2015/10/09/the-mystery-of-isis-toyota-army-solved/
Hopefully, they all came with a signed 8x10 glossy of Vicky Nuland.
Real surprise there
Why does Zero Hedge perpetuate this LIE that the President is anything but an actor - a front man?
"I care not what puppet is placed on the throne of England to rule the Empire, ... The man that controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire. And I control the money supply." Nathan Rothschild
“Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes the nation’s laws. … Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of parliament and of democracy is idle and futile.” — Mackenzie King, Canadian Prime Minister 1935-1948.
“Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.” ? Woodrow Wilson
"And just like that Obama folds, again...."
I do not consider this to be a bad thing, other than being very embarrassed to have this guy be our president.
Gonna have a new suit made for the next G7 meeting. Gonna have an emboidered sign on the back with Gold colored thread saying "Kick Me Real Hard".
Hope and Change baby, Hope and Change.
The official source of all those new Toyota trucks ISIS used to invade Mosul?
The US State Department.
http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/09/the-mystery-of-isis-toyota-army-solved/
What a fiasco.
The funny part is, US Treasury was starting an official investigation.
Oops, never mind.
Good article, thanks for that.
And just like that [it appears that] Obama folds, again.
The criminals are being exposed in Syria, and are now in retreat.
The criminals did manage to effect regime change in Ukraine and are still in charge – but that could be changing since Ukraine regular troops are defecting/quitting at an accelerating rate.
Now they are trying to push on China in the S. China sea. But that will be doomed to failure as well.
Once they can no longer use the US military to advance their agenda and maintain their empire then it is game over for them.
Syria may just be that turning point.
No more regime changes tolerated.
No more raiding countries and stealing their gold like in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Ukraine.
Wait until December / January, and the rest of the people in central and SE Ukraine will flood over the border to Russia, looking for heat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOtGr1JFCnE
I'm astounded the Anglo-American Empire has taken this sitting down. No response? No counter-move? Game over as Superpower and World Policeman?
Nah - we are going to wait and let Trump handle it (negotiate a deal). (Sorry Friday humor).
agree! this is astonishing.
a couple of dozen Russian jets show up, and one contingent of Russian marines. plus Spetznaz, and a bunch of Russian attack helicopters that probably haven't even been un-crated. And the West folds. It's like a knockout in a boxing match, in the first 30 seconds of the opening round.
well, a couple of jets and all that, but you forgot to mention that nice nuclear submarine parked near Syria:-) I was sure that even zionists are afraid of any nuke war with Russia. That is why they spent so much effort on building the anti-missile field in Europe, they hoped they could somehow neutralize Russia's nukes, or most of them....BUT...Russia started producing invisible nuclear subs. And as for the missiles fired from the Caspian Sea: The missile strike therefore confirms that the Russians again have demonstrated a capability that previously only the US had demonstrated.
It is a clear demonstration of a Russian cruise missile with a range of more than 500 km. Had Kalibr-NK been a ground-launched cruise missile, it would be prohibited by the Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty 1987 i.e., INF Treaty. However, the missile is a SLCM that the treaty does not limit in any way.
Nope...whats gonna happen now is a false flag by the US but blamed on Russia.
It'll let the US commit to full scale war without looking like the aggressors to the rest of the world because after all, we were just getting ready to de-escalate everything... then Russia had to go and do this.
Meanwhile, Lavrov has stated that Russia would not consider the FSA to be terrorists if they are prepared to neogtiate. FSA - it's time to decide.
I heard that is exactly what they are starting to do - talk to the Russians. They might even be willing to defer overthrowing Assad until after ISIS is dealt with. Now THAT would be something to see.
Barry is a fraud and a failure as is his policies.
The US cannot continue to provide support for its' chosen dictators.
Barry is a fraud and a failure.
He got two bites of the apple to prove it to.
What is a moderate extremist? There is a shortage of good teachers. Should we hire moderate pedophiles who are eager to teach? The most moderately drunk person to dirve a car? Employ the least diseased prostitute? The list goes on...
not much of a decision for the FSA ... when their Backer just pulled the plug.
The USA has just lost the ability to fight any wars in the Middle East through proxies. Who will believe the USA now ... enough to spill their own blood.
If America wants any ownership in future Middle East outcomes, then US soldiers will be the only choice.
The Saudis can still support Sunni groups ... but that makes the Saudis a funding source for Al Qaeda and ISIS.
this move really isn't as much a retreat (much as I would like to believe it is) as it is a change in tactics out of necessity;
with the Russians rampaging death from above and a resupplied SAA moving on the ground Washington can no longer wait Assad out and bleed his forces over time as the current program was intended to do. in other words they no longer have three years to train and equip the 15,000 or so fighters that were supposedly going to fight "ISIS" but were really meant to hook up with the CIA groups currently fighting Assad. at which point after everybody else had reached the point of exhaustion they would run the table all the way to Damascus with air support from the gulf states and Washington of course. all very humanitarian as Syria will have devolved into total chaos.
then it's mission accomplished.
now the pentagon realizes they probably don't have 3 months let alone 3 years before the coalition's hopes and dreams of a Syria without Assad and subservient to them gets plowed under by the Russia/SAA/Iran alliance.
simply put they now have no other choice but to use what is already there. which is exactly what the new plan outlined by the DOD is. note the shift to equipping and supporting the FSA which is the CIA's pet project and largely engaged with Syrian military and not as much with ISIS. this is clearly a direct result of and an attempt to counter Russia's support of Assad and the SAA and do so as quickly as possible.
not sure how the Kurd's (the DOD's other new besties) fit in just yet, they haven't shown much interest in fighting Assad and to much support will certainly cause serious issues with Turkey. maybe Washington see's them as a propaganda tool, give them just enough support so they can keep fighting ISIS and just enough air cover to keep things level. they might want to use the Kurd's to give the perception that they are serious about fighting ISIS while also showing that they are not total idiots and can pick the right guys to back on the field. all the while the lions share of weapons, cash and other support will go to those fighting Assad, not ISIS as has been the case all along.
Washington suddenly finds themselves with a very large bear problem and that bear is currently driving a bulldozer all over their collective geopolitical strategies and ambitions.
While I am thrilled we appear to be in retreat in Syria, it does absolutely nothing to relieve my conscience of the horrendous crimes that have been committed by the U.S. government in Syria over the past five years. How many innocent men, women and children have lost their lives because we wanted to replace Assad, and we thought we could do it “covertly” by arming and sending in proxies to do our dirty work, so we could run pipelines through his country? How many men, women, and children have lost their arms or legs, or been maimed or disfigured as a result of our use of stone-age and barbaric solutions for a problem we created in the first place? How many additional millions of innocent lives have been uprooted and displaced, forced to become wandering refugees and homeless as a result of our cold-blooded, selfish-beyond-belief, thoughtless and criminal actions? And how many trillions of dollars have we wasted pursuing this mindless and hidden agenda of a small group of men that want to own and control the entire world by means of a one world government and a private banking system they own and control? Money that could have been spent saving lives instead of killing innocent ones, or making our lives infinitely better and easier, rather than much harder and more difficult. For fuck’s sake people, when are we going to get our priorities straight, and stop following these fucking assholes to Armageddon?
ahoy
Without knowing any of the details, it seems to me that the US has ceased to train and equip Syrian rebels because all the weaponry passing through the FSA to ISIS is now being destroyed by Russia missiles and planes
As opposed to when only the coalition was bombing worthless ISIS targets for the last year.
Obama is clever enough to know what "flushing weapons down the toilet" means.
Yeah, take that "olive branch" and SHOVE IT!...More missiles and bombs boys!
to the last rat of them
Putin to Obama...
"Surrender Dorothy", spelled out in the plumes of cruise missile from the Caspain Sea, naturally...
Of all the countries in the middle east why hasn't the US not considered a regime change in Saudi Arabia.
The benefits would be huge for the US. They would make the best vassal state
So basically..... Russia destroys ISIS, US Gov't stops funding and arming ISIS.